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C, 


THE  LIFE  OF 
CHARLES  SILVESTER  HORNE 


Pketo:  Ktginnld  H nines 


M.A.,  M.P. 


EDITED   BY 

W.  B.  SELBIE,  M.A.,  D.D. 


HODDER    AND    STOUGHTON 

LIMITED  LONDON 


Print*}  in  Grot  Britain  by  Ilatell,  Watson  A  Viney,  Id- 
London  and  Aylesbury. 


PREFACE 

THIS  book  is  overdue.  Its  appearance  has  been  delayed 
by  the  war  and  other  causes,  and  would  hardly  have  been 
possible  now  but  for  Mrs.  Home,  who  has  spent  infinite 
pains  in  collecting  and  arranging  her  husband's  volu- 
minous papers  and  letters.  My  work  has  been  largely 
that  of  an  editor,  and  has  been  greatly  helped  by  her, 
and  by  Home's  two  brothers,  and  other  members  of 
his  family,  as  well  as  by  his  close  friend  Dr.  J.  D.  Jones. 
I  have  thought  it  well,  wherever  possible,  to  let  Home 
speak  for  himself.  Hence  the  numerous  extracts 
from  his  diary  and  letters.  This  method  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  the  space  allotted  to  his  work  at  White- 
fields  seems  somewhat  less  than  the  importance  of  the 
work  requires.  The  diary  had  come  to  an  end  by  that 
time,  and  the  letters  of  that  period  naturally  deal  with 
events  away  from  home.  The  book  might  have  been 
longer  and  fuller,  but  it  was  thought  well  to  keep  it 
within  strict  limits,  that  it  might  be  issued  at  a  price 
within  the  reach  of  all.  I  hope,  however,  that  it  will 
serve  as  a  not  inadequate  memorial  of  a  great  soul  and 
a  strenuous  and  most  useful  life. 

W.  B.  SELBIE. 

OXFOED, 

August  1920. 


22.10834 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE v 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  .      .     .     1 

CHAPTER  II 

OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  ....          30 

CHAPTER  III 

THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON  ...          68 

CHAPTER  IV 

RELIGION    AND    POLITICS        .  .  .  .  .112 

CHAPTER  V 

EXTRACTS    FROM    THE   KENSINGTON    DIARY      .  .       138 

vii 


PAGE 

174 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VI 

WHITEFIELDS   AND    PARLIAMENT  .  .  « 

CHAPTER  VII 

WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE   OF  COMMONS    (BY   L.    T. 

HORNE,   C.B.E.)    ......       222 

CHAPTER  VIII 

AN   ITINERANT   MINISTRY   (BY  DR.   J.   D.   JONES)      .       246 

CHAPTER  IX 

CHARACTERISTICS   AND   INTERESTS  .  .  .       260 

CHAPTER  X 

CLOSING   YEARS 291 

INDEX        ....  307 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

IF   "  the   proper  study  of  mankind  is  man,"  then  no 
further   excuse   is   needed   for  attempting   to  write  a 
biography.     Even  the  most  commonplace  lives  have  an 
interest  of  their  own,  and  can  contribute  something  of 
warning   or  example   to  the  sum  total  of  human  ex- 
perience.    But  in  the  case  of  those  who  stand  out  from 
the  common  crowd,  and  leave  a  deeper  mark  upon  their 
time,  there  is  an   added  reason  for  placing  on  record 
something  of  what  they  were  and  did.     Piety  as  well 
as  curiosity  has  its  claims,  and  it  is  well  to  show  the 
world  that  the  good  that  men  do  can  be  made  to  live 
after  them.     To  his   friends   Silvester  Home   was  one 
of  those  radiant  beings  whom  to  know  was   to   love, 
and  whose  memory  irresistibly  invites    to  the  task  of 
commemoration.     Though  he  was  cut  off  in  his  prime, 
he  had  had  his  "  crowded  hour   of  glorious  life,"  and 
the  record  of  his  earnest  service  and  passionate  devo- 
tion to  great  causes  has  still  its  work  to  do.     As  though 
he   had  some  foreboding  that  his   days   would  not  be 
long  in  the  land,  he  spent  his  powers  almost  recklessly, 
meeting  life  like  a  great  adventure,  and  losing  himself 
utterly  in  the  tasks  he  found  to  his  hand.     He   was 
ever  an  impenitent  Radical  and  an  incurable  idealist, 
and  it  is  certain  that  he  would  have  those  who  come 
after  him  forget  the  man  in  the  work  he  tried  to  do,  or 
at  least  only  remember   him  in  order  to  enhance  and 
further  the  causes  for  which  he  stood.     If  there  is  any 
section  of  the  community  to  which  the  story  here  told 
1 


2  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

should  make  a  special  appeal,  it  is  to  the  younger  men 
and  women  of  the  Free  Churches  all  over  the  world. 
Home  stood  always  for  a  positive  Free  Churchmanship, 
and  for  the  Congregational  Church  order  as  its  best 
means  of  expression.  Superior  people  will  probably  say 
that  this  meant  for  him  a  narrow  outlook  and  a  re- 
stricted range  of  influence.  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  the  truth.  A  Congregational  minister  who  is 
worthy  of  his  vocation,  and  takes  it  seriously,  occupies 
a  position  of  the  greatest  possible  freedom.  He  calls 
no  man  Master  or  Lord,  and  he  is  able  to  declare  with- 
out fear  or  favour  the  truth  as  he  has  received  and 
knows  it.  Bound  by  no  written  creed,  he  can  shape 
his  message  to  suit  the  changing  need  of  the  times, 
and  yet  in  humble  submission  to  the  Spirit  of  God, 
who  guides  men  into  all  the  truth,  can  remain  utterly 
loyal  to  the  great  fundamentals  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  power  and  liberty  which  this  position  gives  are 
well  illustrated  in  the  life  before  us.  In  the  pulpit,  on 
the  platform,  and  in  the  Press,  Silvester  Home  gave  a 
Christian  witness  of  consistent  and  cumulative  force. 
Being  dead  he  still  speaks  ;  and  if  the  story  of  his  life 
can  but  enshrine  his  message  in  some  more  permanent 
form,  it  will  not  have  been  written  in  vain. 

It  was  in  the  quiet  village  of  Cuckfield,  in  Sussex, 
that  Charles  Silvester  Home  first  saw  the  light,  on 
April  15,  1865.  He  was  the  youngest  of  four  children 
of  Charles  Home,  minister  of  the  Cuckfield  Congrega- 
tional Church,  and  his  wife,  Harriet  Silvester.  The 
father  had  been  trained  at  Springhill  College,  Birming- 
ham, where  he  was  a  contemporary  of  Dr.  Dale  and 
Dr.  Paton.  He  graduated  at  London  University,  and 
throughout  his  life  retained  his  interest  in  things  in- 
tellectual, and  especially  in  theology.  He  was  an  ardent 
politician,  intensely  patriotic,  and  devoted  heart  and 
soul  to  the  cause  of  progress.  Among  his  friends  he 
was  much  relied  on  for  his  sound  judgment,  both  in 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  3 

private  and  public  matters  ;  but  he  was  a  man  of  few 
words,  modest  and  retiring  to  a  fault,  and  content  to 
make  himself  felt  rather  than  seen  or  heard.  His  wife, 
a  daughter  of  Leonard  Simpson,  of  Birkenhead,  was  a 
woman  of  strong  character  and  keen  and  enthusiastic 
temperament.  She  was  Puritan  in  her  strictness  and 
self-repression,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  home  owed 
everything  to  her  high  ideals  and  devout  spirit.  The 
children  were  made  to  feel  that  the  two  things  which 
mattered  supremely  were  religion  and  education.  Of 
money  there  was  little  enough,  but  it  was  always 
regarded  as  but  a  means  to  an  end.  Personal  expendi- 
ture came  second  to  religious  and  charitable  objects, 
and  there  v/as  no  hesitation  in  spending  capital  in  order 
to  give  the  children  the  best  education  possible. 

When  the  youngest  child  was  still  an  infant,  the 
family  removed  from  Cuckfield  to  the  little  market  town 
of  Newport,  in  Shropshire.  Here  Charles  Home  became 
editor  of  the  local  newspaper,  the  Newport  Advertiser, 
which  was  owned  by  his  wife's  uncle,  Charles  Silvester. 
He  also  became  partner  with  Mr.  Silvester  in  a  printing 
and  bookselling  business,  to  the  control  of  which  he 
ultimately  succeeded.  For  this  purpose  he  gave  up  the 
Congregational  Ministry,  so  that  it  is  only  in  a  very 
limited  sense  that  his  boy  would  be  described  as  a  son 
of  the  manse.  It  was  at  Newport  that  Silvester  Home 
was  educated  and  spent  the  whole  of  his  boyhood. 
Though  just  on  the  border  of  Staffordshire,  and  within 
easy  reach  of  a  busy  industrial  district,  Newport  itself 
is  a  purely  agricultural  market  town  of  some  3,000 
inhabitants.  Its  chief  distinction  is  an  old  endowed 
grammar  school,  where  an  excellent  education  is  provided 
at  a  moderate  cost.  At  this  school  the  Home  boys  were 
brought  up,  and  the  elder  brother  Leonard  writes  of 
it  as  follows :  "In  those  days  the  Headmaster  of  the 
Grammar  School  was  Mr.  Tom  Collins,  whose  manly 
character,  energy,  and  good  nature  exerted  a  very 


4  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

strong  and  healthy  influence.  He  fostered  games, 
which,  however,  never  assumed  the  importance  attached 
to  them  in  boarding  schools  ;  and  he  saw  that  a  good 
all-round  education  was  given,  though  his  own  chief 
interest  was  in  teaching  Greek  and  Latin.  An  exception 
must  be  made  as  regards  science,  of  which  the  boys 
learnt  little  at  that  time.  Charlie  passed  through  the 
school,  rising  from  class  to  class  with  too  little  exertion, 
his  quick  intelligence  and  retentive  memory  making 
everything  easy  to  him.  He  did  not  distinguish  him- 
self, however,  except  in  English,  where  he  showed  real 
power  of  expression  and  the  faculty  of  committing  to 
memory  long  poems  and  speeches  in  the  plays  of 
Shakespeare.  He  played  cricket  and  football  with  zest 
and  success.  The  boys  who  attended  the  school  were 
largely  sons  of  farmers  of  the  neighbourhood  and  of  the 
professional  men  and  tradesmen  of  the  town.  But  there 
was  also  a  large  contingent  of  the  sons  of  labourers  and 
artizans  who  entered  with  scholarships  from  the  ele- 
mentary schools,  and  this  fusion  of  classes  was  probably 
one  of  the  influences  which  helped  to  make  Charlie  so 
much  at  home  with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men, 
and  especially  with  the  congregations  of  little  village 
chapels  up  and  down  the  country." 

But  other  and  more  potent  influences  even  than  the 
school  went  to  the  shaping  of  Silvester  Home.  During 
his  boyhood  the  home  life  was  very  much  under  the 
domination  of  the  newspaper  which  his  father  edited. 
The  whole  family  was  sometimes  occupied  in  proof- 
reading—an excellent  training  in  accuracy  and  correct 
expression— and  at  a  very  early  age  Home  became 
familiar  with  the  processes  of  printing,  and  used  to  set 
up  in  type  his  own  compositions,  both  in  prose  and  verse. 
But  the  paper  also  led  naturally  to  politics,  and  under 
his  father's  wise  guidance  the  boy  began  to  acquire  the 
taste  and  enthusiasm  for  politics  which  remained  with 
him  throughout  his  life.  Though  known  as  an  ardent 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  5 

Liberal  and  Nonconformist,  the  elder  Home  was  accus- 
tomed to  write  with  a  sobriety  and  fairmindedness  which, 
except,  perhaps,  at  election  times,  commended  his  paper 
to  many  whose  politics  were  of  a  very  different  com- 
plexion from  his  own.  He  always  recognized  that  there 
are  two  sides  to  most  questions,  and  tried  to  understand 
opinions  which  he  could  not  share.  His  weekly  "  leaders  " 
won  him  very  considerable  influence  in  the  locality, 
and  men  looked  to  see  what  he  had  to  say  on  matters 
both  of  local  and  national  interest.  In  those  days 
politics  were  very  lively.  Newport  was  a  stronghold 
of  Conservatism,  though  it  contained  a  good  many 
Radicals  who  found  their  inspiration  in  the  Birmingham 
of  Dale,  Chamberlain,  and  Bright.  At  this  same  fountain 
of  inspiration  Silvester  Home  gladly  and  eagerly 
drank. 

Another  and  very  powerful  influence  of  Home's  boy- 
hood was  the  Newport  Congregational  Chapel  and  the 
Sunday  school  attached  to  it.  The  chapel  was  the  most 
considerable  Nonconformist  place  of  worship  in  the  town, 
and  exercised  an  unusual  influence,  largely  through 
Mr.  Mark  Thompson  and  Mrs.  Home's  kinsman,  Charles 
Silvester,  a  man  of  fine  presence  and  saintly  character, 
and  the  little  band  of  devout  fellow-workers  who  gathered 
round  them.  Home  joined  the  church  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  owed  much  to  any 
of  its  ministers.  Nonconformity  was  a  very  unfashion- 
able thing  in  Newport,  and  the  church  could  only  afford 
a  small  stipend.  So  ministers  came  and  went  without 
leaving  any  very  permanent  mark.  The  real  life  of 
the  church  centred  in  the  good  men  and  women  who 
composed  its  membership  and  carried  on  its  work. 
They  were  in  those  days  a  fine  and  enthusiastic  company. 
In  the  cliquey  atmosphere  of  a  little  country  town  it 
was  to  friendships  within  the  church  that  the  Home 
family  were  almost  entirely  confined,  and  it  was  to  the 
teachers  in  the  Sunday  school  and  to  the  leaders  of  the 


6  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

Mutual  Improvement  Society  that  Silvester  Home  owed 
all  the  religious  education  he  obtained  outside  his  home. 
In  the  Sunday  school  he  learned  to  know  his  Bible  well, 
and  owed  much  to  the  example  and  devotion  of  the 
humble  and  simple  men  and  women  who  gave  their  time 
and  energy  to  the  training  of  the  young  in  Christian 
ways.  Home  began  teaching  himself  at  an  early  age. 
When  he  was  between  fourteen  and  fifteen  he  had  charge 
of  a  class  of  small  boys,  and  at  the  same  time  we  find 
him  writing  papers  for  the  Chapel  Literary  Society, 
then  almost  the  only  centre  of  intellectual  interest  in  the 
town.  A  little  later  he  began  to  help  in  the  services 
at  a  village  preaching  station  called  the  Outwoods,  and 
he  was  not  much  more  than  sixteen  when  he  preached 
his  first  sermon  there  in  a  farm  kitchen  to  a  handful  of 
village  folk.  Though  he  had  sometimes  thought  of  the 
Bar  as  a  career,  from  this  time  forward  grew  his  desire 
to  be  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  The  religious  convictions 
formed  thus  early  deepened  with  the  years,  and  even 
amid  storm  and  stress  never  lost  their  first  passion  and 
buoyancy.  But  there  was  nothing  morbid  or  precocious 
about  the  religion  of  his  early  years.  He  was  a  perfectly 
natural  boy,  keen,  lively,  and  intelligent,  with  a  marked 
faculty  for  making  friends  with  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  people.  He  had  a  saving  sense  of  humour  which  would 
break  out  into  doggerel  rhymes  on  all  sorts  of  occasions. 
These,  like  his  more  serious  efforts  at  versification  in 
later  years,  were  often  above  the  average,  and  always 
showed  considerable  command  of  language.  They  wit- 
ness to  his  irrepressible  youthfulness  of  spirit,  and  formed 
a  real  relief  from  graver  things. 

At  the  early  age  of  sixteen  Home  found  himself  at 
the  top  of  the  Grammar  School.  Newport  could  do 
nothing  more  for  him,  and  he  was  too  young  for  an  English 
University.  It  was  therefore  decided  to  send  him  to 
Scotland.  After  a  few  months'  private  study  at  King- 
ston-on-Thames  under  the  tuition  of  his  brother  Leonard, 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  7 

who  had  just  graduated  at  Cambridge,  he  gained  an 
open  bursary  at  Glasgow,  and  went  into  residence  there 
in  the  autumn  of  1881. 

Home  went  up  to  Glasgow  with  his  future  still 
uncertain,  but  with  a  growing  inclination  towards  the 
Congregational  ministry.  He  showed  no  special  bril- 
liance as  a  student,  but  did  his  work  conscientiously  and 
well,  though  he  was  often  critical  as  to  the  methods  fol- 
lowed and  sceptical  as  to  the  utility  of  the  results 
achieved.  The  only  one  of  his  teachers  who  seems  to 
have  permanently  influenced  him  was  Dr.  Edward  Caird,1 
then  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy.  Among  his  fellow- 
students  he  easily  took  the  lead,  and  was  always  popular. 
He  soon  became  the  leading  champion  of  Liberalism  in 
their  debates,  and  his  power  as  a  speaker  made  him  one 
of  the  best -known  men  in  the  university  in  his  time.  He 
thoroughly  enjoyed  the  robust  intellectual  atmosphere 
of  the  north,  and  in  his  classical,  literary,  and  philo- 
sophical studies  he  laid  an  excellent  foundation  for  the 
theological  course  which  was  to  follow. 

Of  the  life  at  Glasgow  Home's  friend  and  fellow- 
student,  the  Rev.  A.  Furner,  writes  as  follows  : — 

"  When  I  want  to  set  down  my  recollections  of  my 
early  companionship  with  Home,  the  task  is  not  so  easy 
as  I  thought  it  would  be,  for  there  seems  so  much  it  is 
good  to  remember,  and  so  little  to  record,  when  he  and  I 
were  fellow-students  at  Glasgow  and  lived  together. 
The  picture  my  memory  draws  of  him  in  those  days 
differs  little  from  my  remembrance  of  him  in  later  years, 
for  happily  success  did  not  spoil  him,  nor  did  his 
strenuous  life  rob  him  of  that  almost  boyish  zeal  with 
which  he  threw  himself  into  every  task  he  under- 
took. 

"  Of  his  years  as  a  student  at  Glasgow  there  is,  I  think, 
nothing  of  special  interest  to  record.  He  always  took 

1  Afterwards  Master  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 


8  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

a  good  place  in  his  classes,  yet  without  any  special  dis- 
tinction that  I  remember.  That  happy  gift  of  doing 
things  quickly  and  easily  which  was  so  characteristic 
in  his  later  years  was  his  then,  and  though  he  worked 
quite  honestly  in  all  his  college  work,  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  *  fag  and  grind  of  midnight  oil '  which  is  associated 
with  the  idea  of  the  arduous  student.  But  his  days  were 
never  wasted,  for  his  reading  and  interests  embraced 
many  things  which  lay  very  wide  of  the  regular  work  of 
his  college  life. 

"  In  those  days,  in  all  political  affairs  connected  with 
the  University,  Home  was  an  enthusiastic  Liberal,  and 
he  entered  into  them  with  the  whole-hearted  enthusiasm 
which  we  were  familiar  with  in  his  later  years.  In 
the  election  of  Lord  Rector,  which  was  the  great  political 
occasion  in  the  University  life,  Home  was  always  in 
the  forefront  of  the  fray — a  merry,  inventive,  and  most 
enthusiastic  worker.  In  the  '  Dialectic,'  too,  where  he 
was  a  frequent  and  popular  speaker,  it  was  the  political 
contests  in  which  he  most  gladly  took  part.  G.  H. 
Morrison,  Hugh  Black,  Cosmo  Lang,1  with  Home  and 
others  whose  names  have  since  then  become  familiar, 
shared  the  honours  of  those  eager  discussions,  and  so 
gave  early  promise  of  the  success  which  later  years  have 
brought  to  them. 

1  The  students  at  Glasgow  had  not  many  opportu- 
nities for  preaching,  but  Home  and  I  knew  the  ministers 
at  Coatbridge  and  Airdrie,  and  often  went  to  one  or  other 
of  those  churches  to  conduct  the  services ;  and  we  helped 
in  some  of  the  missions,  and  were  frequent  speakers  at  the 
Sunday  morning  meetings  of  the  Foundry  Boys  Associ- 
ation. In  all  such  work  Home  was  a  willing  helper,  and 
although  always  a  welcome  speaker,  there  was  no 
suggestion  then  of  the  power  which  his  later  ministry 
revealed.  During  his  time  in  Glasgow  Home  was 
connected  with  Elgin  Place  Church,  where  Dr.  Goodrich 

1  Now  Archbishop  of  York. 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  9 

then  ministered,  and  he  owed  much,  as  indeed  we  all  did, 
to  Dr.  Goodrich' s  ministry  and  friendship. 

"  Some  of  my  happiest  memories  of  those  student 
days  gather  about  our  summer  holidays.  In  1886 
Home  and  I  had  a  walking  tour  in  Wales  with  James 
Culross.  Then,  again,  in  1888,  we  went  up  the  Rhine 
together,  and  stayed  for  a  time  at  Heidelberg.  These 
holidays  Home  always  planned  and  managed,  and 
although  often  the  plans  proved  wrong  or  the  manage- 
ment faulty,  his  companionship  made  them  holidays 
never  to  be  forgotten." 

During  the  whole  of  his  time  at  college  Home  kept 
up  a  regular  correspondence  with  his  home.  The 
following  letters  show,  better  than  any  description,  the 
variety  of  his  aims  and  interests  at  this  time. 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"December  8,  1884. 

"...  The  first  Dialectic  debate  came  off  on  Friday. 
The  first  debate  always  excites  considerable  interest,  as 
it  may  be  taken  as  indicative  of  the  way  the  divisions 
are  likely  to  go.  So  far  I  am  quite  satisfied  with  the 
results  of  my  canvassing.  The  subject  was  '  Hereditary 
Government.'  The  debate  was  a  good  one  and  lively. 
I  found  that  references  to  Earl  Cairns  and  Lord  Garmoyle 
had  a  riling  effect  on  the  Tories,  also  that  mention  of 
Lord  Fitzwilliam's  name,  who  was  in  prison  at  the 
division  on  the  Franchise  Bill,  did  not  tend  to  soothe 
them.  We  had  much  fun  at  the  expense  of  the  Lords, 
and  won  by  a  majority  of  nineteen.  So  far,  so  good. 

"  A  movement  has  been  set  on  foot  for  providing  a 
Students'  Un'on  for  Glasgow,  on  a  similar  plan  to  the 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  Unions.  The  Edinburgh  men 
are  hard  at  work  raising  funds  now,  and  there  is  no  doubt 


10  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

that  we  ought  to  have  one.  Representatives  from  all 
the  leading  clubs  and  societies  are  to  meet  this  week 
or  next.  I  am  appointed  as  a  representative  of  the 
Liberal  Club,  and  I  intend  to  take  the  matter  up 
heartily.  Unless  you  have  had  experience  of  the  life 
here,  you  have  no  idea  of  what  a  need  this  is.  To 
students  living  out  of  College  there  are  so  few  opportu- 
nities of  getting  to  know  one  another  and  making  those 
real  College  friendships  and  having  that  student  inter- 
course which  one  feels  will  be  always  valuable.  Jebb 
and  Ramsay  are  quite  enthusiastic,  and  I  believe  most 
if  not  all  of  the  professors  will  co-operate  heartily.  A 
reference  to  it  at  a  business  meeting  of  the  Dialectic 
after  the  debate  on  Friday  provoked  great  enthusiasm 
among  the  men. 

"  I  have  been  offered  the  superintendency  of  the 
Sunday  school,  but  as  you  will  easily  imagine,  I  am  not 
enthusiastic.  In  fact,  I  don't  know  that  I  have  natural 
sternness  enough  for  such  a  set  of  children  as  ours,  and 
consequently  it  would  only  be  a  burden.  At  the  same 
time,  there  are  many  improvements  I  think  which 
ought  to  be  made  in  the  school  and  might  be  made. 
For  this  reason  I  feel  inclined  to  try  it,  but  have  not 
decided  yet." 


To  his  Father 

"  GLASGOW, 

"February  16,  1885. 

"...  Last  Tuesday  John  Morley  was  up  delivering 
his  Presidential  address  to  the  Junior  Liberal  Asso- 
ciation, and  on  Saturday  I  received  from  the  Secretary 
100  tickets  to  distribute  to  members  of  our  Club.  They 
were  Reserved  Seat  tickets,  so  we  were  fortunate.  . 
The  Hall  was  very  well  filled  and  the  platform  uncom- 
fortably full.  John  Morley  is  very  young-looking,  with 
a  finely  cut  head  and  a  good  delivery.  His  speech 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  11 

was  the  most  striking  one  I  ever  listened  to,  and  his 
utterances  on  the  Egyptian  question  came  in  very  useful. 
Probably  you  read  the  speech,  so  there  is  no  need  for  me 
to  describe  it,  but  every  sentence  told.  There  was  a 
crowded  Dialectic  meeting  on  Friday,  the  Foreign  Policy 
being  all  the  go  just  now.  I  had  had  such  a  sore  throat 
all  the  week  that  I  was  afraid  I  should  not  be  able  to 
speak,  but  fortunately  this  was  not  so.  It  was  very 
difficult  to  get  on,  because  feeling  ran  so  high  that  there 
were  violent  demonstrations  at  almost  every  sentence. 
One  Liberal  spoke  on  the  other  side,  and  there  was  a 
tremendous  shout  of  jubilation  from  the  Tories,  and,  of 
course,  of  execration  from  the  Liberals.  The  voting  was 
very  exciting,  and  no  one  seemed  to  know  who  had  won. 
At  last,  however,  the  official  count  proved  the  result  a 
tie,  and  then  Lambie,  our  Radical  Chairman,  voted 
against  the  Foreign  Policy,  and  I  was  done.  It's  just 
like  my  luck.  Last  time  I  led  a  debate  on  Total 
Abstinence,  I  was  defeated  by  the  casting  vote  of  the 
Chairman. 

"  And  now  I  must  tell  you  of  the  Union  meeting, 
held  on  Saturday  in  the  Bute  Hall.  There  was  a  crowded 
attendance  of  students,  but  during  the  first  part  of  the 
proceedings  they  were  very  quiet.  Lambie  explained 
our  scheme,  and  then  Dr.  Bruce  Young  moved  that  '  it  is 
desirable  to  form  a  Union.'  This  was  carried  with  great 
enthusiasm.  Wenley  moved  the  election  of  a  Committee, 
consisting  of  representatives  from  all  the  Clubs  and 
societies.  This  was  carried,  as  also  were  the  other 
two  motions  which  you  will  see  stated  in  the  report.  . .  . 

"  There  was  an  unprecedented  scene  at  Natural 
Philosophy  on  Tuesday  morning.  Last  Monday  the 
paper  was  a  most  absurd  one.  I  could  not  do  a  question 
in  it,  and  it  seemed  my  case  was  that  of  about  one-third 
of  the  class.  Some,  like  Jim,  fell  back  on  the  ingenious 
idea  of  sending  in  so  many  blank  sheets  with  their 
name  at  the  back,  so  that  if  he  weighs  the  papers,  as 


12  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

seems  probable,  they  would  get  good  marks.  Well,  on 
Tuesday,  as  soon  as  Bottomley  came  in,  there  was  a  howl 
and  a  hiss  and  a  general  uproar.  The  scene  '  beggars 
description.'  Bottomley  did  not  evidently  understand, 
and  I  was  perplexed  as  to  what  it  meant,  though  I  half 
guessed.  Bottomley  stood  there  as  white  as  a  sheet 
amid  the  most  frightful  execrations.  At  last  one  student 
got  up  and  explained  that  it  was  the  paper  that  was 
objected  to.  On  this  Bottomley,  amid  prolonged  howls, 
produced  a  paper  and  endeavoured  to  defend  it,  but  the 
Class  would  hear  of  no  defence.  All  through  the  hour 
there  was  a  steady  tramping  of  feet  and  periodic  hisses. 
The  Paper  to-day  is  only  slightly  better.  I  don't  know 
what  to  do.  Here  is  half  the  term  gone  by  and  I  seem 
to  have  got  hardly  elementary  notions  as  to  Natural 
Philosophy.  Thomson  l  and  Bottomley  seem  to  vie  with 
one  another  to  give  you  as  little  as  possible  that  is 
helpful.  The  hours  are  literally  wasted.  If  I  am  not  to 
come  a  complete  cropper  in  Mathematics  I  must  contrive 
to  get  up  some  thoroughly  sound  ideas  out  of  the  text- 
books. I  am  disgusted  with  the  whole  concern.  .  .  ." 


To  his  Mother 

GLASGOW, 
"November  16,  1885. 

"...  I  should  like  to  be  able  to  shut  my  ears  till 
after  Friday  week,  on  which  day  Glasgow  elections  will 
be  decided.  The  Kirk  question  rages  here — everybody 
discusses  it,  and  the  whole  thing  is  quite  thrashed  out. 
It  is,  I  suppose,  quite  impossible  to  go  to  an  Established 
Church  now  without  hearing  half  the  sermon  devoted  to 
Disestablishment.  My  landlord  is  an  Established  Church- 
man, but  the  sermons  for  Church  Defence  have  so  dis- 

>  Later  Lord  Kelvin.  Though  not  greatly  helped  by  his  lectures 
Home  often  spoke  of  the  simplicity  and  earnestness  of  his  prayers 
at  the  opening  of  the  session. 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  13 

gusted  him  that  he  goes  in  now  for  Disestablishment. 
A  few  more  Sundays  of  Church  Defence  sermons  and 
Disestablishment  will  be  safe. 

"A  few  of  us  who  are  Congregational  students  held  a 
meeting  here  the  other  evening,  and  decided  to  have  a  tea 
for  the  Congregational  students  of  the  University.  We 
intend  to  invite  the  Congregational  ministers  of  Glasgow, 
and  we  also  intend  to  talk  to  them  about  their  duty  to 
students.  We  have  elected  Joseph  Jones  as  President, 
because  he  is  both  a  student  (attending  Hebrew  and 
Church  History)  and  an  ordained  minister.  I  am 
secretary  for  the  present.  We  reckoned  up  about 
twenty-five  that  we  know  well,  and  we  are  going  to  put 
a  notice  up  asking  Congregational  students  to  send  in 
their  names. 

"  On  Saturday  I  went  out  to  Airdrie  to  see  Jones. 
Mr.  Jenkins,  the  Congregational  minister  at  Coatbridge, 
near  Airdrie,  was  very  unwell,  and  asked  me  to  preach 
for  him  on  the  Sunday  morning,  which  of  course  I  did. 
I  walked  out  to  Coatbridge,  a  largish  place  of  about 
17,000  people.  The  Congregational  Church  is  a  very 
nice  building,  but  unfortunately  has  a  tremendous  debt — 
a  great  burden  to  the  people.  There  is  a  back  gallery, 
but  it  is  not  opened.  The  body  of  the  Church  was  well 
filled.  It  is  very  likely  I  may  go  over  and  preach 
for  Mr.  Jenkins  again,  as  he  thinks  of  taking  a 
holiday. 

"  I  went  back  to  Airdrie  after  the  service  and  went 
to  Jones'  place  at  night.  This  is  an  exceedingly  nice 
chapel,  wonderfully  bright  and  attractive  both  inside  and 
out.  The  people  are  very  enthusiastic  about  him,  and 
they  tell  me  that  the  congregations  are  very  greatly 
improved.  If  he  preaches  as  well  as  he  did  last  night, 
I  don't  wonder  at  it.  .  ." 


14  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  December  5,  1885. 

"...  My  first  word  must  be  of  hearty  congratulation 
on  the  splendid  success  of  Mr.  Bickersteth.  Indeed,  you 
have  done  well  in  Shropshire  to  send  three  Liberals  and 
one  Tory  for  four  county  seats.  All  the  counties  have 
done  well— Yorkshire  especially.  The  Irish  vote  has 
helped  the  Tories  to  carry  two  county  seats  here  :  but 
that  is  nothing  great  to  boast  of,  as  they  were  both 
carried  by  very  narrow  majorities.  I  regret  nothing 
so  much  in  the  whole  election  as  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson's 
defeat  by  ten  votes.  He  is  a  man  the  House  of  Commons 
cannot  afford  to  spare.  .  .  . 

"  The  most  interesting  event  of  the  week  has  been  the 
annual  soire"e  of  Jones'  Church.  This  was  held  on 
Thursday  last.  As  a  rule  they  get  one  or  two  Glasgow 
ministers  to  go  over  and  speechify,  but  as  one  or  two 
who  were  asked  could  not  go,  Jones  asked  Furner, 
E.  K.  Evans,  and  me  to  go  over  instead.  We  agreed 
to  go,  and  Jim  came  with  us.  The  result,  of  course,  was 
amusing.  That  we  might  not  clash  in  our  subjects 
we  made  the  arrangement  that  Furner  was  to  dress  down 
the  pastor  (Jones),  I  was  to  dress  down  the  congregation, 
and  Evans'  only  remaining  alternative  was  to  dress  down 
'the  previous  speakers.'  So  far  everything  was 
satisfactory.  We  arrived  and  made  our  first  trial  of  a 
real  Scotch  Soiree.  As  you  deliver  up  your  ticket  you 
are  handed  a  mysterious  bag — much  resembling  the  bag 
our  children  get  at  Treats — and  with  this  bag  you  march 
to  your  seat  gallantly.  After  due  speculation  from  the 
outside,  you  explore  the  interior  of  the  bag  and  find — 
everything.  A  sort  of  Scotch  Haggis  dry.  Scones  and 
cakes,  biscuits  and  a  packet  of  sweets,  etc.  etc.  Then 
you  have  your  tea,  which  you  have  to  contrive  to  make 
stand  upon  the  slanting  pew-board.  This  is  a  lesson 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  15 

in  the  inclined  plane.  I  pass  over  the  sneering  remarks 
with  which  Furner  passed  me  four  or  five  cups  of  tea, 
insisting  that  it  was  to  keep  me  from  being  '  very  dry ' ; 
they  were  unworthy  of  the  occasion.  My  turn  to  jeer 
was  coming.  I  asked  Jones  in  Turner's  presence  if  there 
was  good  egress  from  his  Church,  as  I  was  confident 
there  would  be  a  rush  for  the  doors  when  Furner  began 
to  speak,  and  in  the  crush  to  get  out  a  calamity  might 
occur.  Having  been  satisfied  on  this  point,  Furner,  Evans, 
and  I  mounted  the  platform.  The  church  was  crowded, 
and  looked  very  animating.  After  an  address  from  an 
Airdrie  minister,  Turner's  turn  came.  I  must  say  he 
made  a  capital  speech,  as  amusing  as  usual.  His  dry 
hits,  however,  were  many  of  them  lost  on  the  Scotch 
congregation.  They  refused  to  see  his  joke  that  he  had 
given  up  in  despair  the  idea  of  talking  on  '  the  Failings 
of  Church  Members,'  as  that  subject  would  take  years 
rather  than  minutes.  But  they  screamed  over  his  des- 
cription of  the  eloquent  young  student  who  was  closing 
a  brilliant  speech,  and  exclaimed  '  My  friends  !  the  great 
need  of  the  Church  to-day  is  more  men  and  fewer  of 
them.'  Evans  sang  the  people  a  Welsh  song,  which 
seemed  to  highly  amuse  them.  He  has  a  very  musical 
voice.  I  spoke  on  being  charitable — the  prevailing 
habit  of  criticism  and  so  on.  We  had  a  most  bright  and 
interesting  meeting,  and  got  home  to  Glasgow  about 
eleven  o'clock.  Furner  is  out  preaching  at  Coat  bridge 
to-day.  .  .  . 

*'  We  shall  have  a  tremendous  row  next  Friday  on 
Disestablishment  at  the  Dialectic.  Am  afraid  there  is 
no  chance  of  carrying  it.  They  say  it  has  never  been 
carried.  Had  a  good  debate  on  the  Theatre  on  Friday. 
I  was  in  the  Chair.  .  .  . 

"  Have  you  seen  that  Mr.  Goodrich  1  has  been  invited 
to  Baldwin  Brown's  Church  at  Brixton  ?  He  is  nearly 

1  Minister  of  Elgin  Place  Congregational  Church,  and  afterwards 
of  Chorlton  Road,  Manchester. 


16  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

sure  to  go,  as  Glasgow  has  never  suited  him,  and  his  wife 
has  been  ordered  a  change.  ...  I  certainly  think  he 
ought  to  go,  and  refused  to  sign  the  young  men's  petition 
asking  him  to  stay.  I  went  to  hear  him  preach  to-day, 
and  he  gave  us  a  splendid  sermon  on  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion. In  point  of  preaching  he  will  do  well  at  Brixton,  I 
should  think. 

"  Nothing  like  turning  elections  to  account.  Turner 
has  offered  to  stand  treat  if  Harcourt  and  Roe  got  in  for 
Derby  if  I  would  do  the  same  if  Bickersteth  got  in  for 
Newport.  I  knew  the  first  two  were  a  certainty,  and 
that  the  latter  was  very  doubtful,  so  willingly  closed  the 
bargain.  The  result  has  been  great  feasting  in  Willow- 
bank  Street.  Arthur  also  invited  me  to  tea  as  Winter- 
botham  was  in.  I  have  always  thought  well  of 
Elections — especially  when  Liberals  get  in.  ..." 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"December  13,  1885. 

"...  On  Tuesday,  after  classes,  at  three  o'clock 
Jim  and  I  sallied  forth  to  Loch  Burnie  and  had  a  grand 
time  at  skating  until  it  was  too  dark  to  see.  The  ice 
was  beautifully  hard  and  clear,  and  the  evening  very 
bright  with  a  splendid  sunset.  We  enjoyed  ourselves 
hugely.  On  Friday,  when  Furner  and  I  got  up  to  College, 
we  found  notices  up  that  the  Senate  had  granted  a 
4  Skating  Holiday,'  and  no  classes  would  meet ;  but  as 
it  was  then  rapidly  thawing,  and  continued  so  all  day, 
the  purpose  of  the  holiday  was  a  fraud. 

"  Mr.  Goodrich  has  declined  the  invitation  to  succeed 
Baldwin  Brown.  We  are  all  very  much  surprised  up 
here  that  he  should  have  refused  it,  as  we  felt  certain 
he  would  go  as  soon  as  we  heard  that  he  had  been  invited. 
However,  here  he  is  the  Congregational  minister  of 
Scotland  :  there  he  would  be  but  one  among  very 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  17 

many.  Perhaps  his  present  position  is  the  most  en- 
viable. 

"  I  am  sending  you  a  programme  of  our  Total  Absti- 
nence Conversazione  of  last  Wednesday  night.  It  was  a 
success  :  the  room  being  well  filled,  and  there  being  far 
more  students  present  than  at  previous  meetings  of  the 
kind.  Professor  Calderwood  (Moral  Philosophy,  Edin- 
burgh) made  a  most  capital  speech.  He  is  the  President 
of  the  T.A.S.  at  Edinburgh,  and  he  impressed  upon  us 
that  Professors  and  Students  have  their  duties  '  outside 
the  class-room,'  a  sentiment  that  I  cheered  to  the  echo. 
In  fact,  he  believes  the  more  important  part  of  our 
education  is  received  otherwise  than  at  classes  and  from 
books.  I  feel  a  great  respect  for  Calderwood. 

"  McKendrick,  our  President,  made  a  capital  speech, 
and  generally  was  invaluable  in  providing  orchestra  and 
performers.  Furner  and  I  persuaded  several  members 
of  Jones'  congregation  to  come  over,  and  they  all 
enjoyed  themselves  immensely.  Furner  has  gone  to 
Coatbridge  to  preach  again,  and  I  preach  at  Airdrie  on 
Sunday  next  and  at  Macclesfield  the  Sunday  after. 

"  The  Debate  on  Disestablishment  fell  flat.  There 
was  an  audience  of  little  over  a  hundred.  The  holiday 
no  doubt  militated  against  it,  and  English  and  Welsh 
students  did  not  take  enough  interest  in  the  Disestablish- 
ment of  the  Scotch  Church.  The  result  was  Disestablish- 
ment was  lost  by  50  to  36.  All  the  Established  Church 
Theological  Hall  of  course  trooped  up  and  carried  the  day. 

"  I  went  to  a  Foundry  Meeting  this  morning — a  large 
hall  very  closely  packed,  about  400  in  all,  but  of  very 
varying  ages.  They  sang  splendidly,  and  I  think  we  all 
enjoyed  the  meeting. 

"  To-morrow  we  have  our  Congregational  students' 
gathering,  when  we  hope  to  have  a  capital  evening.  On 
Saturday  next  is  Caird's  first  Examination,  involving 
very  close  work  this  week.  .  .  ." 


18  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  January  10, 1886. 

"...  At  work  again  !     I  am  glad,  after  all,  to  be  able 
to  write  it.     There  is  but  little  more  than  three  months 
till  examination  time  and  the  final  tug  of  war.     Furner 
came  back  on  the  Tuesday  morning,  arriving  at  6  a.m. 
He  brought  a  great  box  of  good  things  for  our  consump- 
tion, so  that  we  are  well  supplied  with  luxuries  just  now. 
The  weather  has  been  a  caution  !     We  have  had  deep 
snow  and  hard  frosts  :    one  complete  thaw  and  severe 
frost  in  a  single  night  leaving  the  streets  as  a  sheet  of 
glass.     Yesterday  we  had  glorious  skating ;  this  morning 
we  woke  to  find  two  inches  of  snow,  which  is  now  thawing 
fast.     On  Thursday  morning  I  received  a  notice  from 
the  Secretary  of  the  Dialectic  Society  that  the  President 
was  resigning,  as  he  had  too  much  work  on  his  hands. 
Next  morning  I  found  everyone  in  a  fluster,  as  similar 
notices  had  been  sent  out  generally.     After  consideration 
and  deliberation  with  the  other  fellows,   the   general 
opinion  was  that  I  ought  to  stand  for  the  Presidency, 
which  with  great  hesitation  I  consented  to  do.      The 
Election  had,  of  course,  to  take  place  on  Friday  night. 
Stevenson  was  put  up  on  the  part  of  the  Tories,  and 
having  been  seven  or  eight  years  connected  with  the 
Society,  had  a  great  advantage  in  this  way  over  myself. 
However,  I  did  not  trouble,  not  being  very  anxious  either 
way,  and  the  result  showed  that  there  was  no  necessity, 
as  I  received  50  votes  to  Stevenson's  15.      The  only 
troublous  part  of  the  business  is  that  I  shall  thus  have 
to  sit  opposite  Professor  Jebb  at  the  dinner  and  hob-a- 
nob  with  all  those  old  professors  !  .  .  .  Next  piece  of 
news.     The  result  of  Caird's  Moral  Philosophy  Examina- 
tion is  published.     The  names  are  put  in  classes,  but 
only  in  alphabetical  order  in  the  several   classes.      I 
am  in  the  First  class,  but  have  no  means  of  telling  my 
position  in  it." 


EARLY    DAYS,    SCHOOL   AND    COLLEGE    19 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  January  25,  1886. 

"...  Yesterday  morning  I  went  to  speak  at  a 
Foundry  meeting  at  Springbank.  I  was  once  before 
there  at  a  meeting.  It  is  a  large,  square  hall  holding,  I 
should  say,  four  or  five  hundred,  and  despite  the  weather, 
every  seat  was  full.  Furner  came  with  me.  The  singing 
was  capital.  The  mixing,  however,  of  children  who  are 
pretty  young  with  young  men  and  women  of  twenty-five 
or  so  makes  it  a  most  difficult  meeting  to  address  success- 
fully. On  the  whole  we  had  a  very  good  time,  and 
enjoyed  it. 

"  We  are  practising  an  anthem  up  at  Mrs.  B.'s.  I 
ordered  '  Daughter  of  Zion'  at  a  music-seller's  here,  and 
he  got  me  the  wrong  piece;  but  we  got  the  right  one 
afterwards,  and  I  think  all  like  it.  I  am  practising  the 
accompaniment  on  the  violin,  and  as  the  others  have  no 
conception  of  the  time,  or  M.  B.  of  how  to  play  the 
accompaniment,  it  is  lively  for  the  neighbours. 

"  Jim  and  I  went  to  Mr.  Goodrich's  yesterday  after- 
noon and  heard  a  sermon  to  young  women.  Quite  a 
treat  to  hear  them  pitched  into  :  it's  always  young  men 
who  get  it  hot  from  the  pulpit.  L.  ought  to  have 
been  there  !  .  .  . 

"  This  week  promises  to  be  very  full  of  work.  It 
continually  happens  here  that  a  month's  work  will 
accumulate,  whether  you  like  it  or  not,  on  to  one  week. 
We  have  essays  for  Caird,  exercises  for  Caird,  Prose 
for  Jebb,  exam,  coming  on  for  Jebb,  besides  other 
work  of  a  more  regular  description.  This  week,  for 
the  first  time,  my  exercises  for  Caird  were  put  in  the 
First  Class. 

"  The  more  I  think  of  it  and  the  more  I  read  Fairbairn's 
articles,  the  more  I  am  drawn  towards  Oxford.  It  is 
early  yet  to  decide  but  not  to  consider.  If  there  was  a 


20  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

chance  of  getting  a  £25  scholarship,  there  ought  to  be  a 
reasonable  hope  of  materially  increasing  that  sum  by 
one's  supply  work.  Then  the  fees  should  not  be  heavy 
at  Mansfield,  and  lodging  out  of  College  ought  to  be 
reasonable.  I  hope  you  and  Father  will  talk  it  over.  I 
hear  from  Turner  that  the  amalgamation  of  Airedale  l 
and  Rotherham  has  been  submitted  to  an  arbitration 
committee." 

To  his  Father 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  January  31,  1886. 

"...  Dr.  Macleod,  one  of  our  medical  professors, 
told  his  class  on  Friday  that  a  certain  friend  of  his,  a 
doctor  in  Glasgow,  had  asked  him  how  best  he  could 
immortalize  his  name  in  connection  with  the  University. 
Dr.  Macleod  suggested  the  Union,  and  the  said  friend, 
whose  name  is  not  as  yet  to  be  divulged,  has  intimated 
to  the  Senate  his  desire,  with  their  consent,  to  build 
and  furnish  throughout  a  Students'  Union  at  his  own 
expense  !  Of  course  everybody  is  full  of  speculations 
as  to  who  this  doctor  is,  but  here  are  all  our  burdens 
of  money-getting  removed  from  us  just  as  they  were 
beginning  to  look  formidable.  Glasgow  scores  off 
Edinburgh  again,  for  they  are  still  in  the  throes  of  money- 
begging  f°r  their  Union.  I  think  your  advice  about 
summing  up  at  the  Dialectic  is  right,  and  that  it  will  be 
best  not  to  do  it.  It  would  be  impossible,  I  fancy,  for 
me  to  sum  up  without  letting  my  opinion  be  known. 
We  had  an  amusing  (to  me)  discussion  the  other  Friday 
as  to  whether  we  could  alter  our  constitution  without 
consulting  the  Senate.  Of  course  I  ridiculed  the  idea 
of  our  being  dependent  on  the  Senate,  and  ruled  at  once 
that  we  could  do  as  we  liked.  The  Glasgow  News, 
which  brings  out  a  column  of  University  News  every  week 

1  Two   Yorkshire   Colleges,   now   "  The  Yorkshire   United   College 
Bradford." 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  21 

and  is  a  rabid  Tory  organ,  calls  my  speech  '  prompt  and 
spirited,'  which  is  as  amusing  as  the  discussion. 

"  Have  you  seen  that  the  Baptist  Union  Committee 
has  unanimously  resolved  to  nominate  Dr.  Culross  as 
Vice-President  of  the  Union  this  year,  which  means 
that  he  will  be  President  next,  all  being  well.  Jim 
tells  me  he  was  asked  once  before  when  minister  in 
London,  but  declined.  He  felt,  however,  obliged  to 
consent  this  time  because  of  his  position.  I  am  very 
glad.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  glad  the  Government  are  out.  It  is  not 
representative  Government  when  we  are  ruled  by  a 
Government  that  has  a  large  minority  in  the  House. 
Don't  you  think  Parnell  ought  to  be  Chief  Secre- 
tary? .  .  ." 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  February  6,  1886. 

"...  On  Saturday  we  had  a  great  public  meeting  of 
students  to  consider  the  constitution  of  the  Union.  As 
the  last  was  a  very  noisy  meeting,  we  anticipated  no 
Elysian  time.  It  was  a  very  big  meeting,  but  contrary 
to  expectation  most  orderly  and  business-like.  I  did 
not  want  to  speak;  but  they  gave  me  a  resolution  to 
propose,  so  I  had  to  do  so.  It  was  rather  a  good  thing, 
too,  as  it  gave  me  an  opportunity  of  trying  whether  I 
could  be  heard  in  our  big  Bute  Hall.  A  friend  of  mine 
told  me  I  was  distinctly  and  easily  heard  at  the  end,  and 
I  spoke  with  no  effort  at  all,  so  am  satisfied.  We  had  one 
big  division,  and  the  fellows  divided  over  to  opposite 
sides  of  the  hall.  Then  Wenley  and  I  counted  one  side 
by  benches  and  two  others  the  other  side,  and  we 
managed  very  well.  .  .  ." 


22  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

To  his  Father 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  February  14,  1886. 

"...  To-day  we  have  heard  two  sermons  from  Dr. 
Macfadyen, l  of  Manchester,  at  Mr.  Goodrich's.  He  is  very 
bald,  with  an  exceptionally  long  head.  I  should  imagine 
him  a  very  kind  man,  with  an  altogether  beautiful  spirit. 
His  sermons  have  been  very  vigorous,  fresh,  and  inspiring. 
This  afternoon,  preaching  on  the  Crucifixion  from  the 
words '  They  crucified  the  Son  of  God  afresh  and  put  Him 
to  an  open  shame,'  he  mentioned  several  people  who 
had  a  part  in  the  Crucifixion — Caiaphas,  Herod,  Pilate, 
the  Disciples — since  they  fled — and  Judas,  and  made 
them  all  types  of  people  in  our  own  day.  On  the  whole, 
however,  this  morning's  sermon  was  the  more  striking 
one.  As  he  is  to  lecture  to-night  in  St.  Andrew's  Halls, 
he  is  being  well  worked  while  here. 

'  You  would  see  by  the  papers  that  Professor  Nichol 
has  been  arrested  in  Naples.  It  has  been  all  the  talk  of 
the  quadrangles  this  week,  and  has  occasioned  great 
merriment.  Most  fellows,  I  think,  regard  it  as  paying  off 
a  lot  of  old  scores  :  the  general  opinion  is  that  we  should 
like  to  have  seen  him  glare  at  those  unfortunate  gen- 
darmes who  had  to  arrest  him. 

14  To-day  Hugh  Price  Hughes  has  been  in  Glasgow,  and 
I  have  heard  him  twice,  this  morning  at  a  Wesleyan 
Church  and  this  evening  at  St.  Andrew's  Halls  on  Total 

Abstinence.     Both  addresses  were  very  characteristic 

racy  and  telling.  The  sermon  was  just  as  much  a 
platform  speech  as  the  evening  lecture.  He  preached  on 
witness-bearing.  Speaking  of  the  necessity  for  being 
bold  in  bearing  witness,  he  said  many  ministers  were 
afraid  of  Conferences  or  Unions.  '  Emancipation  from 
the  fear  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference  is  one  of  the  most 
delightful  things  I  know.'  ..." 

»  Then  Minister  of  Chorlton  Road  Church. 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  23 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  February  21,  1886. 

"...  Another  very  busy  week  has  passed,  and  with 
Caird's  exam,  over,  I  can  breathe  freely  again.  It  was 
held  on  Saturday  morning,  and  was  very  stiff.  I  did 
not  do  particularly  well,  only  fairly.  My  essay  on 
Stoicism  is  first  in  the  Second  Class,  there  being  four 
others  above  it.  I  see  now  that  Father  was  right  when  he 
said  I  had  not  a  philosophical  mind.  As  I  write  an 
essay,  I  consider  how  it  would  sound  to  an  audience, 
the  result  being  an  essay  in  a  popular  rather  than  philo- 
sophical spirit.  I  fear  I  have  not,  and  shall  not  acquire 
that  great  spiritual  gift  of  dryness  which  is  essential 
to  the  successful  philosopher.  Caird  says  my  essay 
was  well  written,  many  expressions  being  very  happy, 
but  it  lacked  '  firmness  of  thought,'  which  I  presume 
is,  being  interpreted,  long  philosophical  technicalities 
arranged  in  rigid  logical  sequence. 

"  Next  week  we  are  to  have  our  elections  for  a 
students'  representative  Council.  I  have  been  chosen  to 
act  as  returning  officer  and  conduct  the  elections  in  the 
first  and  second  year  of  Arts.  No  doubt  those  wild, 
raw,  undisciplined  first-yearers  will  lead  me  a  pretty 
dance,  before  doing  their  business.  It  will  be  great  fun, 
and  I  hope  successful  also.  By  the  bye,  I  may  as  well 
mention  here  a  certain  fact  that  has  transpired,  and 
which  is  a  source  of  considerable  amusement  to  many  of 
us.  I  have  two  more  meetings  arranged  in  connection 
with  the  Foundry  Association.  On  the  plan  sent  me 
one  was  set  down  as  '  The  City  Hall.'  This  I  took  to 
be  one  of  the  small  halls  there,  but  it  turns  out  to  be  a 
large  meeting  held  in  the  great  hall  which  seats  4,000 
people.  So  I  shall  have  a  chance  of  holding  forth,  at  any 
rate  once  in  my  life,  in  a  great  building.  It  is,  of  course, 
no  small  score,  and  I  am  greatly  rejoicing  at  the  prospect. 


24  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

(N.B.— Don't  imagine  there  will  be  anything  like  4,000 
people  there  !) 

"  On  Friday  night  we  had  one  of  the  events  of  the 
session  from  a  student's  point  of  view.  Once  a  year 
the  Medical  Society  here  comes  and  joins  the  Dialectic 
in  a  joint  debate.  This  year  the  subject  was  '  Class 
Examination,'  and  as  the  Medical  President  took  the 
chair  last  year,  it  fell  to  my  lot  this  year.  There 
was  a  big  meeting  and  an  animated  debate.  The 
four  opening  papers  were  splendid— Wenley's  especially 
so — the  general  opinion  being  that  Class  Exams, 
should  be  voluntary,  though  one  or  two  went  in 
strongly  for  their  abolition.  We  are  going  to  have 
a  great  election  time  soon,  electing  the  first  really 
representative  Students'  Council,  or  really  Union 
Committee.  We  are  going  to  vote  in  *  years,'  the  first 
year  in  Arts  voting  together,  the  first  in  Medicine, 
and  so  on.  The  fourth-year  men  and  upwards  meet 
together.  All  the  principal  Clubs  and  Societies  have 
representatives  as  well,  so  I  hope  we  shall  have  a  really 
strong  Council.  Caird's  second  exam,  is  on  Saturday, 
so  this  week  will  be  a  very  busy  one.  I  shall  be  glad  to 
have  it  over.  .  .  .  Jones  is  lecturing  to  the  Airdrie 
Mechanics'  Institute  on  Victor  Hugo  on  Tuesday.  There 
is  a  movement  on  foot  to  present  Edward  Caird  with  his 
portrait.  It  is  a  very  swell  Committee.  They  sent  me 
a  circular  the  other  day,  but  as  the  subscription  is  limited 
to  from  1  guinea  to  5  guineas,  it  is  out  of  the  question " 

To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  February  28,  1886. 

"...  This  morning  I  had  a  walk  right  away  into  the 
East  End  to  a  Foundry  meeting,  and,  of  course,  an 
address  to  give.  We  had  a  most  splendid  meeting.  The 
President  of  the  meeting  stopped  to  tell  me  that  he  is 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  25 

coming  over  from  the  Presbyterians  to  the  Congrega- 
tionalists,  and  wanted  to  know  about  our  new  society  at 
College  for  Independent  students.  This  afternoon  Canon 
Farrar  was  preaching  at  the  College  Chapel,  so  off  we 
went,  Arthur,  Jim,  and  I.  I  never  should  have  believed 
that  so  many  people  could  have  been  got  into  the  Bute 
Hall.  It  was  crammed  in  every  part.  We  had  very  good 
places,  and  the  service  was  very  grand.  The  main  thing 
that  struck  me  about  the  Canon  was  his  marvellous  voice. 
It  was  like  a  beautiful  silver  bell,  clear  and  ringing. 
The  sermon  was  on  Missions,  and  the  language  was  per- 
fect ;  but  there  were  no  striking  thoughts,  and  I  feel  sure 
I  have  heard  as  good  missionary  sermons  from  people 
who  would  not  have  attracted  an  audience  of  a  hundred 
people.  But  they  are  not  Canons  and  D.D.'s,  and  so 
are  unknown.  Then  to-night  I  have  been  off  again  to 
the  South  Side — at  least  two  miles — to  speak  at  a  meet- 
ing for  a  friend  of  mine  who  is  a  town  missionary.  It 
was  a  crowded  meeting,  and  pretty  much  used  me  up. 
Then  the  walk  home,  and  now,  as  I  say,  I  feel  tired. 

"  I  must  tell  you  now  of  a  most  successful  gathering 
we  had  this  week  of  Independent  students.  You 
remember  that  when  we  Congregational  students  last  met 
we  resolved  to  broaden  the  basis  of  our  society  and  admit 
Baptists  and  Evangelical  Unionists.  The  result  was,  we 
had  on  Friday  a  gathering  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
students.  Jones  was  there,  but  had  to  leave  early.  We 
had  tea,  and  then  made  a  constitution  and  formed  our 
Society.  After  this  Jones  left,  and  I  took  the  Chair, 
and  we  had  the  social  part.  It  was  a  great  success, 
everybody  entering  heartily  into  it  and  enjoying  them- 
selves immensely.  Altogether  it  was  a  most  successful 
inauguration,  and  I  believe  the  Society  will  be  a  suc- 
cess. I  am  especially  interested  in  it  because  the  idea 
originated  with  me,  and  it  will  be  something  definite  to 
leave  behind. 

"  Our  Elections  have  gone  on  busily  during  the  week. 


26  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

On  the  whole  I  think  the  Council  will  be  a  good  one  : 
the  fellows  seem  to  have  chosen  mostly  sensible  and 
suitable  representatives.  The  Elections  I  had  to  conduct 
were  orderly  and  business-like,  and  the  results  quite 
satisfactory.  My  constituency  is  the  Dialectic.  Now, 
O  Senate  of  Glasgow,  look  out  for  squalls  !  We  are 
concentrating  our  power  !  There  will  be  life  here  m 
the  future,  and  liberty  more  than  nominal !  Amen  and 
Amen.  But  I  shall  not  '  be  there  to  see '  !  It  is  un- 
fortunate to  be  leaving  with  the  rise  of  the  Union,  the 
Independent  Association,  the  Council,  and  so  on.  It  is 
now  known  for  certain  that  the  donor  of  the  Union  has 
given  £5,000.  We  had  expected  the  building  to  cost 
£4,500,  but  since  this  gift  we  have  slightly  enlarged  our 
plans,  and  shall  collect  a  further  sum  probably  so  as  to 
have  the  Union  complete  in  every  way.  To-morrow  is 
a  holiday,  and  I  am  going  to  Airdrie.  ..." 


To  his  Mother 

"  GLASGOW, 

"March   15,   1886. 

".  .  .  We  had  the  results  of  Caird's  second  exam,  this 
week,  and  I  am  again  in  the  First  Class  :  there  is  no  order 
of  merit  beyond  classes.  There  is  only  one  more  exam, 
in  Caird's  class.  We  had  to  pay  in  our  guineas  for  the 
various  departments  of  our  degree  this  week.  Of  course 
I  had  only  to  pay  one  guinea  for  Philosophy.  There 
seem  to  be  a  great  many  fellows  entering.  On  Tuesday 
last  we  had  the  first  meeting  of  the  Students'  Represen- 
tative Council,  to  appoint  office-bearers,  and  so  on. 
Wenley  was  chosen  President.  I  was  made  Secretary 
for  Arts  for  the  remainder  of  the  session.  They  also 
want  me  to  be  made  President  of  the  Liberal  Club,  and 
hold  the  office  till  next  November,  as  there  is  a  difficulty 
otherwise  in  filling  it  up.  I  don't  know  how  it  will  be 
decided. 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  27 

"  The  final  debate  at  the  Dialectic  on  a  vote  of  confi- 
dence in  the  present  Government  came  off  on  Friday. 
The  Vice-President  took  the  Chair  that  I  might  be  able 
to  make  a  final  speech.  The  debate  was  very  good  and 
lively.  The  division  was  the  closest  we  have  had  this 
session,  there  being  a  majori  y  of  two  in  favour  of  the 
Government.  In  connection  with  the  presentation  of 
a  portrait  to  Edward  Caird,  I  was  asked  to  superintend  a 
class  subscription,  so  on  Friday  we  had  a  meeting,  which 
was  considerable  fun.  It's  no  joke  to  preside  at  such  a 
meeting,  for  everybody  speaks  at  once,  and  to  bring 
order  out  of  chaos  and  get  anything  done  is  a  caution. 
We  did  succeed  in  getting  a  Committee  appointed,  and 
that  was  pretty  much  all. 

"  That  the  end  of  the  session  is  approaching  is  wit- 
nessed by  the  Class  prizes  having  been  voted  in  Litera- 
ture. I  am  very  glad  to  say  that  Griffith  has  got  the 
fourth  prize  in  the  Junior.  The  Senior  prizes  seem  to 
have  been  as  unfairly  voted  as  ever,  but  Stowell,  of 
Airedale,  came  in  fifth. 

"  Joseph  Jones  has  gone  home  to  Wales,  from  whence 
he  writes  in  high  glee  over  the  narrow  division  on  Welsh 
Disestablishment.  It  is  indeed  '  the  writing  on  the 
wall.'  He  says  Wales  is  rejoicing  greatly  at  the  near 
prospect  of  Disestablishment.  I  hope  they  will  not  be 
much  longer  disappointed.  I  went  over  to  Airdrie  on 
Saturday  to  take  his  place  on  Sunday.  We  had  good 
congregations  both  times.  In  the  afternoon  I  took  his 
Bible  Class,  which  means  a  half-hour's  address.  All  the 
people  were  as  usual  exceedingly  kind,  and  I  enjoyed  my 
stay  very  much  indeed. 

"  This  morning,  in  coming  back  to  Glasgow  I  was  one 
of  the  first  passengers  to  go  through  the  underground 
railway  which  is  opened  to-day.  .  .  ." 


28  EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

To  his  Father 

"  GLASGOW, 

"  April  6,  1886. 

".  .  .  Thank  you  very  much  for  the  offer  of  Dr.  Dale's 
books'.  '  I  should  like  them  immensely.  I  had  thought 
that  if  you  offered  me  some  books  I  should  ask  you  for 
Frederick  Robertson's,  but  I  have  no  idea  what  is  the 
price  of  the  latter.  Which  do  you  think  would  be  more 
useful  to  me  ?  I  may  say  I  have  Dale's  Week-day 
Sermons  and  Congregational  Principles.  .  .  . 

"  There  is  little  news  to  tell  you  this  week.  It  has 
become  the  dull  monotony  of  the  drudgery  that  precedes 
the  actual  struggle.  Caird's  final  exam,  was  on  Saturday 
—a  very  stiff  paper— almost,  if  not  quite,  unfair.  Am 
afraid  I  shall  come  down  a  class  because  of  it.  Jebb's 
results  are  out.  I  am  seventh  in  Plutarch  and  eighth  in 
Oedipus,  my  marks  in  both  being  about  the  same,  250 
out  of  300. 

"  Turner,  Arthur,  and  I  went  to  see  Preston  North  End 
play  the  Queen's  Park  on  Saturday.  Jones  also  came 
over  from  Airdrie.  The  match  was  a  magnificent  one, 
but  the  Scotchmen  were  not  in  it  in  dribbling  and  passing. 
The  Preston  men  ran  in  and  out  of  them  like  anything, 
but  were  very  weak  in  front  of  goal.  The  Queen's  Park, 
as  usual,  did  best  in  rushes. 

"  By  the  bye,  half  in  fun,  half  in  earnest,  I  wrote  to 
Mr.  Ruskin  last  week  about  his  calling  Emerson  '  poison- 
ous '  when  in  Fors  he  praises  him  for  his  appreciation 
of  true  heroism.  To-day  I  had  a  letter  from  him  highly 
amusing  and  characteristic.  You  shall  see  it  when  you 
come.  .  .  ." 

The  writer  of  these  letters  is  obviously  very  much  of  a 
boy,  with  a  boy's  irresponsibility,  and  yet  with  a  gravity 
beyond  his  years.  Home's  student  days  were  evidently 
formative  in  many  senses,  but  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
passed  through  any  serious  spiritual  or  intellectual  crisis 


EARLY  DAYS,  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  29 

such  as  is  common  at  the  period  of  adolescence.  This 
was  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  religion  had  never  been 
presented  to  him  in  any  hard  dogmatic  way,  and  partly 
to  the  practical  bent  of  his  own  mind.  His  beliefs  were 
rooted  in  experience,  and  so  held  in  such  form  as  to  be 
easily  adaptable  to  new  conditions  and  a  larger  intellec- 
tual outlook.  At  the  same  time,  his  keen  interest  in 
human  nature,  and  his  determination  to  make  his  faith 
the  foundation  of  a  message  to  others,  saved  him  from 
anything  in  the  nature  of  mere  theorizing.  It  was  often 
remarked  of  him  that  his  religion  seemed  to  be  so  utterly 
natural.  He  had  grown  up  gradually  into  the  truths  he 
learned  to  live  by ;  but  he  held  them,  or  rather  they  held 
him,  as  firmly  as  if  they  had  been  won  at  the  cost  of 
much  storm  and  stress.  This  is  not  to  say  that  he  never 
had  qualms  or  doubts.  He  had,  and  they  made  him 
extraordinarily  sympathetic  with  those  in  like  case. 
But  they  never  mastered  him  or  hindered  him  as  they 
do  some.  They  were  but  the  growing  pains  of  his  soul, 
and  only  served  to  increase  his  assurance  and  the  fervour 
of  his  testimony.  In  debates  with  his  fellow-students 
he  always  gave  proof  of  a  singularly  open  mind,  but 
also  of  an  unusual  maturity  of  conviction  on  fundamental 
Christian  truths. 


CHAPTER  II 

OXFORD   AND   KENSINGTON 

AFTER  taking  his  degree,  Home  set  himself  to  undergo 
three  years'  training  in  theology,  that  he  might  be 
thoroughly  equipped  for  the  great  work  of  the  Christian 
ministry.  It  had  originally  been  intended  that  he  should 
join  Spring  Hill  College,  Birmingham,  his  father's  Alma 
Mater.  But  just  at  that  time  plans  were  under  discussion 
for  the  removal  of  Spring  Hill  to  Oxford.  Home  was 
greatly  attracted  to  Oxford  and  to  Dr.  Fairbairn,  who 
was  to  be  head  of  the  new  college ;  but  he  was  not  anxious 
to  join  Spring  Hill  in  the  then  uncertain  state  of  its 
fortunes.  He  wrote  to  his  father  from  Glasgow :  "I 
sincerely  hope  the  move  will  be  made  to  Oxford  this 
Summer.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  do  not  much  take  to  the 
idea  of  going  to  Spring  Hill  with  no  kind  of  knowledge 
whether  they  will  move  in  my  time  or  not."  For- 
tunately the  change  was  made  just  at  the  right  moment 
for  him,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1886  Mansfield  College 
was  established  in  Oxford,  and  Home  became  one  of  its 
first  small  band  of  students.  Of  his  admission  to  the 
college  he  wrote  to  his  parents  as  follows  : — 

To  his  Father 

"  3  WALTON  CRESCENT,  OXFOBD, 
"  October  18,  1886. 

'To  set  your  minds  at  rest,  I  may  as  well  say  at  the 
beginning  that  I  have  been  admitted  a  student  of  Mans- 
field with  a  scholarship  of  £50,  and  that  I  am  to  have  £10 

30 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  31 

at  once,  an  excellent  arrangement — the  remainder  to  be 
paid  in  instalments  of  £10  at  given  periods.     Now  as  to 
the  whole  history  of  the  proceedings.     I  got  here  about 
9  o'clock,  and  am  exceedingly  pleased  with  my  habita- 
tion.    The  landlady  is  very  pleasant  and  the  rooms  are 
luxurious.     I  have  a  nice  bookshelf  that  just  takes  all 
my  present  stock  of  books,  and  there  is  plenty  of  room 
for  more  in  other  parts.     After  due  survey  of  my  where- 
abouts, I  sallied  forth  to  find  High  Street,  purchased  a 
University  Calendar,  noted  the  site  of  our  present  rooms, 
and  then  returned.     At  12.30  I  found  a  large  crowd  of 
old  boys  assembled  outside  90  High  Street,  and  when 
they  had  all  passed  in,  I  made  a  trembling  entrance. 
My  fellow-victims  then  began  to  arrive,  and  we  were 
shown  into  one  of  the  Mansfield  Halls,  where  Dr.  Fair- 
bairn  received  us  most  kindly.     I  liked  him  at  once  ;   a 
manner  very  like  Dr.  Culross's,  and  just  his  Scotch  accent. 
Of  course  the  victims   became  friendly  :  there  was  a 
Mr.   Wolfendale  of  Cambridge,   Selbie  of  Oxford,   Dr. 
Macfadyen's  son,  Mr.  Robinson  of  Edinburgh,  and  two 
old  Spring  Hill  men — Sharpe  and  Parker.     Macfadyen 
and  the  two  last  are  taking  the  Degree  course  here. 
Wolfendale  was  executed  first  :  he  seemed  very  nervous, 
but  no  doubt  got  through  all  right.     Then  Fairbairn 
fetched  me.     There  were  a  lot  of  old  dons,  but  most  of 
them  strangers  to  me  ;    Dr.  Dale  asked  the  questions, 
Fairbairn  sat  next  to  him,  and  Mackennal  of  Bowdon 
next.     Then  there  was  Mr.   Clarkson  of  Birmingham, 
and  Alderman  Manton.     I  am  not  sure  if  Dr.  Conder  was 
there  or  not.     I  did  not  feel  at  all  nervous,  for  I  could 
not  see  most  of  them,  and  Dr.  Dale  I  felt  at  home  with. 
After  a  few  general  questions  as  to  age  and  date  of  going 
to  Glasgow,  and  where  educated  and  so  on,  Dr.  Dale 
asked  if  I  had  ever  had  any  doubts  since  I  joined  the 
Church  of  my  acceptance  with  God.     I   said   '  None.' 
'  Be  very  thankful  for  that,  my  friend,'    he   said  with 
great  emphasis,  whereat  one  or  two  chuckled.     Then 


82  OXFORD   AND    KENSINGTON 

followed  questions  as  to  what  kind  of  Christian  work 
I  had  engaged  in.  I  told  them  as  well  as  I  could.  Dr. 
Dale  seemed  amused  when  I  said  I  preached  before  going 
to  Glasgow.  '  You  began  pretty  young,'  he  said. 
Then  followed  the  only  amusing  part  of  the  proceedings. 
Dr.  Dale  asked  me  to  give  them  some  idea  of  how  I 
preached.  '  Do  you  use  manuscript  ? '  he  said.  '  Yes,' 
I  replied.  *  Always  ?  '  *  Yes,  always.'  '  Did  you 
belong  to  a  debating  society  at  Glasgow  ?  '  '  Yes.' 
'  How  did  you  speak  there  ?  '  '  From  small  notes,' 
I  replied.  *  Did  you  never  try  without  any  notes  ?  ' 
'  Yes,'  I  said,  and  added  after  a  pause,  '  once  ! ' 
'  Oh,'  said  Dr.  Dale,  '  didn't  that  encourage  you  to  try 
again  ? '  I  shrugged  my  shoulders  and  said  '  No ' 
decisively,  which  tickled  the  Board  immensely.  After 
this  the  questions  were  as  to  whether  Glasgow  life  in- 
fluenced my  religious  views  at  all,  and  so  on.  This  was 
all.  Dr.  Dale  asked  if  anybody  else  would  like  to  ques- 
tion me.  Mr.  Clarkson  asked  if  I  meant  Home  or  Foreign 
work.  Another  old  boy  asked  if  my  health  was  good, 
another  if  I  liked  preaching.  These  answered,  I  forsook 
the  assembly  of  the  saints,  having  enjoyed  it  far  better 
than  I  thought.  When  the  others  had  duly  been 
through  the  ordeal,  we  were  all  called  in,  and  Dr.  Dale 
announced  that  five  of  us  had  been  granted  Theological 
scholarships  and  Macfadyen  a  literary  one.  He  then 
gave  a  very  beautiful  address,  saying  that  while  others 
came  to  Colleges  that  were  full  of  old  traditions,  we  had 
got  to  make  the  traditions  of  Mansfield.  A  prayer  by 
Mackennal  concluded  the  proceedings.  The  lunch  was 
at  2.15,  at  the  swell  Hotel  here — the  Randolph.  We 
were  there  in  good  time,  and  as  I  breakfasted  at  7.30, 
I  was  hungry— properly  ravenous.  A  gentleman  called 
me  by  name  to  sit  down  by  him,  and  said  he  expected 
I  knew  his  brother  Mark.  It  was  Mr.  Simon  of  Leicester. 
He  and  I  chatted  most  of  luncheon-time  about  Wollerton 
and  Newport.  Dr.  Dale  proposed  Mansfield  and  its 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  33 

Principal,  and  Fairbairn  replied.  At  4  o'clock  the 
inaugural  address  was  delivered  by  Fairbairn.  It  was 
quite  a  splendid  effort.  Then  followed  a  brief  prayer- 
meeting  of  a  most  inspiring  character,  Mr.  Clarkson, 
Mr.  Mackennal,  and  Dr.  Dale  taking  part.  At  the  con- 
clusion there  was  a  general  hand-shaking,  Dr.  Dale  asking 
to  be  remembered  to  you.  Dr.  Fairbairn  stopped  me 
going  out,  and  asked  me  to  come  along  to  his  house  at 
7  o'clock,  as  I  could  not  be  there  last  Friday.  Accord- 
ingly I  went  and  saw  the  Dr.,  who  was  much  exhausted. 
Mr.  Mackennal  came  in,  and  we  had  tea.  Fancy  a  tea- 
meeting  consisting  of  Dr.  Fairbairn,  the  President  of  the 
Congregational  Union,  and  little  me.  It  was  very  jolly. 
Mr.  Mackennal  said  that  Mr.  Home  and  himself  went 
at  the  same  time  from  different  colleges  to  Burton-on- 
Trent  and  Odiham  to  preach.  They  would  not  have 
Mr.  Home  at  Burton  nor  him  at  Odiham.  They  changed 
about ;  and  then  Mr.  Home  was  invited  to  Odiham  and 
he  to  Burton-on-Trent. 

"  But  the  most  interesting  and  inspiring  thing  about 
Mansfield  came  from  Dr.  Fairbairn.  We  are  having 
lectures  in  historical  rooms.  The  main  lecture  hall  is 
the  old  Oxford  Union,  where  Gladstone  delivered  all  his 
great  orations.  The  other  hall  is  King  Charles  I's 
room,  where  he  stayed  during  the  siege  of  Oxford, 
celebrated  in  John  Inglesant.  Truly,  as  Fairbairn  says, 
we  are  on  classic  soil.  After  tea,  a  number  of  others 
came  in — two  Macfadyens,  a  Balliol  man  who  knew  Owen 
Edwards,  and  several  more ;  lastly  Horton's  friend, 
W.  L.  Courtney,  whose  lectures  delighted  Leonard  so 
much.  We  discussed  the  plans  of  Mansfield,  which  are 
very  handsome  indeed.  Dr.  Hatch,  Jowett,  and  Canon 
Freemantle  have  all  been  down  to  examine  the  plans, 
and  have  made  various  practical  suggestions.  This 
reminds  me  to  say  that  Fairbairn  says  we  shall  have 
quite  enough  work  from  him  and  Massie  and  the  Hebrew 
tutor,  and  that  we  shall  only  attend  Hatch  besides,  who 
3 


84  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

only  lectures  one  hour  a  week,  and  who,  he  says,  will 
not  be  very  interesting.  We  left  Dr.  Fairbairn's  about 
half-past  ten. 

"Wolfendale  is  lodging  at  No.  12  in  this  crescent, 
and  seems  a  very  nice  fellow.  There  is  a  probability, 
so  Fairbairn  says,  of  Paton  coming  next  term,  and 
also  a  suggestion  that  A.  W.  Dale  should  be  appointed 
professor  of  Church  polity  here. 

"And  so  opens  what  the  High  Churchmen  here  are 
pleased  to  call  the  '  Dissenteries.'  ..." 

This  letter  indicates  something  of  the  zest  and  interest 
with  which  Home  began  his  work  in  Oxford.  Though 
a  graduate  of  another  university,  and  a  little  older  than 
the  average  undergraduate  in  Oxford,  he  threw  himself 
eagerly  into  the  life  of  the  place.  As  was  the  custom 
with  Mansfield  men,  he  matriculated  as  a  non-collegiate 
student.  This  enabled  him  to  join  the  Union  and 
other  university  societies,  where  he  soon  began  to  make 
himself  felt.  In  the  little  circle  at  Mansfield  especially 
he  was  like  a  breath  of  fresh  air.  To  tell  the  truth,  it  was 
rather  a  self-conscious  little  group.  The  men  felt  that 
they  were  helping  to  make  history,  and  were  anxious  to 
lay  well  the  foundations  of  the  new  college  and  to  estab- 
lish its  junior  common-room  life  on  sound  traditions. 
Coming,  as  he  did,  from  the  bracing  atmosphere  of  a  big 
Scotch  university,  Home  brought  to  their  deliberations 
a  touch  of  robust  criticism  and  sanctified  common  sense. 
He  acted  as  secretary  of  the  J.C.R.  during  the  whole  of 
his  three  years  at  the  college— an  unusually  long  tenure 
of  the  office — and  he  certainly  left  his  mark  on  the  young 
society.  He  was  popular  with  everyone,  being  still 
very  much  of  a  boy,  and  having  that  personal  charm 
that  is  so  much  more  easily  felt  than  described.  He 
had  a  marked  influence  on  the  religious  life  of  the  college. 
In  spite  of  his  youthful  manner  and  appearance,  there 
was  an  unexpected  maturity  in  his  spiritual  experience. 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  85 

His  ideal  of  the  ministry  was  a  high  and  noble  one,  with- 
out the  least  taint  of  that  professionalism  which  is  the 
greatest  peril  of  theological  students.  Even  among 
his  fellows  Home  soon  showed  himself  a  born  preacher. 
He  had  a  remarkably  easy  command  of  language,  with 
a  vivid  and  impetuous  style.  But  he  was  never  merely 
fluent.  He  always  knew  what  he  meant  to  say,  and  did 
not  let  his  tongue  run  away  with  him.  Above  all,  he 
was  tremendously  in  earnest.  He  had  a  Gospel  to  preach, 
and  the  word  was  "  like  a  fire  in  his  bones."  Even  in 
these  early  days  Home  showed  all  that  passion  for 
evangelism  which  marked  him  throughout  his  career, 
and  made  him  in  time  one  of  the  most  convincing  and 
successful  of  evangelists.  This  was  but  the  natural  out- 
come of  an  intense  religious  experience  and  an  unusually 
strong  grip  of  the  fundamentals  of  the  Christian  faith. 

At  Oxford  Home  soon  became  known  in  a  much  wider 
circle  than  that  of  Mansfield.  He  joined  the  Union  at 
once,  and  began  to  take  part  in  its  debates.  His  ex- 
perience at  Glasgow  stood  him  in  good  stead,  though  the 
political  atmosphere  of  the  two  places  was  about  as 
different  as  it  could  well  be.  The  causes  which  Home 
loved  to  champion  were  not  those  most  in  favour  in 
the  Oxford  of  his  day,  and,  if  he  won  some  rather  sur- 
prising victories,  something  was  no  doubt  due  to  the 
skill  and  fervour  with  which  he  presented  his  case.  On 
one  memorable  occasion  he  proposed  and  carried  a 
motion,  "  That  this  House  regrets  its  past  history  as 
recorded  in  the  minutes  of  public  business."  It  was  not 
difficult  to  compile  from  the  Union  records  a  damning 
story  of  reaction,  and  Home  did  it  inimitably.  On  other 
occasions  he  spoke  in  favour  of  disestablishment,  educa- 
tion reform,  Sunday  closing  of  public-houses,  and  against 
coercion  in  Ireland.  Of  the  last-named  debate  he 
writes : — 

"  The   motion  was   proposed  by  an  ex-President,   a 


86  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

clever  man,  but  who  was  rather  off  the  point.  It  was 
opposed  by  Lang,1  an  old  Glasgow  man,  the  cleverest 
Tory  the  Union  has  had  for  a  long  time.  I  spoke 
third,  and  by  this  time  the  Union  was  in  a  most 
excited  state.  The  Tories  had  all  the  fierceness  of 
despair  and  the  Liberals  the  exaltation  of  success. 
For  fully  three  minutes  I  had  to  stand  after  declaring 
that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Irishmen  to  resist  the 
Coercion  Act.  *  Treason  !  treason ! '  they  cried,  while 
the  Liberals  applauded  tumultuously.  Altogether  it 
was  fine  fun,  and  we  polled  43,  a  very  good  number." 

Home  also  became  one  of  the  founders  and  chief  pro- 
moters of  the  Milton  Club,  a  society  of  the  younger  Free 
Churchmen  in  the  university  for  the  discussion  of 
subjects  in  which  they  were  specially  interested.  It 
took  the  place  of  the  older  Nonconformist  Union  and 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Religious  Equality.  At  its 
more  informal  discussions  Home  was  at  his  best.  His 
Free  Churchmanship  was  of  a  very  robust  type,  almost 
too  much  so  for  some  of  his  contemporaries  on  whom  the 
influence  of  Oxford  was  strong.  Many  of  them  will 
remember  fierce  and  prolonged  debates  in  which  he 
championed  his  cause  and  withstood  his  enemies  with 
equal  eloquence  and  good  humour. 

At  Mansfield  Home  was  no  more  than  a  good  average 
student.  His  interest  did  not  lie  in  the  direction  of 
exact  scholarship,  and  he  allowed  himself  too  many 
distractions  ever  to  excel  in  examinations.  But  he  was 
keenly  alive  to  the  necessity  for  a  rigorous  intellectual 
discipline  as  a  preparation  for  his  life  work,  and  he  was 
at  least  as  well  read  as  the  best  men  of  his  time.  There 
is  rather  a  characteristic  outburst  in  a  letter  to  his  father 
written  at  the  end  of  his  first  year :  "  Next  week  we 
are  to  have  a  swarm  of  exams.,  to  my  intense  disgust. 
I  did  hope  that  the  Mansfield  authorities  would  contrive 

1  Now  Archbishop  of  York. 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  37 

to  rise  above  the  present  sickening  craze,  especially  as 
there  are  but  six  of  us ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  so."  It  should 
be  added,  however,  that  he  took  a  good  second  class  in 
all  the  papers.  There  is  no  doubt  that  even  in  his 
student  days  his  chief  interest  was  in  preaching,  and  to 
this  everything  else  had  to  give  way.  Already  his  fame 
had  begun  to  spread  in  the  churches,  and  he  received 
many  invitations  to  preach  in  some  of  the  most  notable 
Congregational  pulpits.  He  first  preached  for  Dr.  Dale 
at  Carr's  Lane,  Birmingham,  in  1887.  Writing  to  his 
father,  he  describes  in  a  half-humorous  way  his  youthful 
tremors  at  the  sight  of  the  grave  and  reverend  deacons, 
and  his  sense  of  unfitness  for  the  task.  But  he  tells,  too, 
how  it  was  all  dissipated  at  the  spectacle  of  the  vast 
congregation  and  the  sound  of  their  singing,  and  how  he 
was  able  to  preach  to  them  with  entire  freedom  and  com- 
fort on  "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  This  was 
an  experience  which  he  repeated  in  several  of  the  chief 
Congregational  churches  in  London  and  the  provinces, 
and  he  became  much  in  request  as  a  preacher  of  great 
attractiveness  and  promise.  Such  almost  premature 
popularity  would  have  turned  the  head  of  a  weaker  man. 
But  Home  never  lost  his  modesty,  and  was  almost  over- 
powered by  the  sense  of  his  vocation  and  of  the  responsi- 
bility of  his  work.  He  loved  these  historic  chapels. 
They  stood  to  him  for  the  cause  of  religious  freedom 
with  which  he  had  long  ere  this  thoroughly  identified  him- 
self. They  were  made  sacred  to  him  by  great  memories, 
and  by  the  names  of  ministers  whom  he  had  been  taught 
to  revere.  It  was  an  inspiration  to  stand  in  the  pulpits 
of  such  men,  and,  however  unworthily,  to  follow  in  their 
steps.  But  quite  apart  from  such  associations,  Home 
was  moved  even  in  his  student  days  by  that  passion  for 
preaching  the  Gospel  which  came  to  dominate  his  whole 
life.  Even  in  the  most  crowded  years  of  his  later  min- 
istry he  never  lost  the  sense  of  his  vocation  as  a  "  watcher 
for  souls,"  and  in  these  early  days  it  was  with  him  as  a 


38  OXFORD   AND    KENSINGTON 

veritable  "  burden  of  the  Lord."  Even  while  he  was 
yet  at  Oxford  it  led  him  to  conduct  evangelistic  missions 

one  at  Broseley  in  conjunction  with  a  fellow-student, 

the  Rev.  T.  A.  Wolfendale,  and  the  other  at  Crosby, 
near  Liverpool,  in  the  church  of  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Darlow. 
Of  this  latter  Mr.  Darlow  writes  : — 

"  It  was  the  most  beautifully  natural  thing  of  the  kind 
which  I  ever  attended.  He  preached  then  just  as  a  bird 
sings,  and  the  echoes  of  his  words  linger  on  in  many  hearts 
even  now.  We  were  all  of  one  mind  about  the  services. 
He  lived  at  my  house  throughout,  and  the  power  of  the 
meetings  grew  and  deepened  in  quiet  intensity  right 
through  to  the  close.  But  I  cannot  describe  the  singular 
charm  of  his  speech — so  artless  and  simple  and  penetra- 
ting. One  man  called  him  '  an  inspired  boy.'  Literally, 
the  love  of  Christ  constrained  him  and  those  who 
listened.  This  is  a  poor  pale  reflection  of  an  unforgotten 
radiance.  It  was  indeed  good  to  be  there." 

Home  made  many  friends  at  Oxford.  Chief  among 
them  were  W.  H.  Cozens -Hardy,  of  New  College,  and 
C.  A.  V.  Magee,  of  Merton.  With  these  and  certain  of 
his  Mansfield  fellow-students  he  lived  on  terms  of  the 
closest  intimacy — held  high  debate  far  into  the  night  and 
spent  glorious  hours  tramping  the  country  round  and  on 
the  river.  Among  them  he  was  easily  primus  inter  pares, 
and  their  affection  and  admiration  for  him  knew  no 
bounds.  He  enjoyed  his  life  at  the  university  to  the 
full,  and  took  more  than  his  share  in  its  many-sided 
activities.  Though  he  felt  the  atmosphere  of  it  to  be 
somewhat  alien,  and  confessed  himself  at  times  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land,  he  accepted  it  all  with  good-humoured 
tolerance,  and  was  quite  content  to  belong  to  the 
minority.  He  had  a  healthy  scorn  for  the  rather  blind 
conservatism  of  some  of  his  contemporaries,  and  took 
immense  delight  in  tilting  at  the  windmills  of  reaction. 


OXFORD   AND    KENSINGTON  39 

But  as  time  went  on,  he  felt  all  the  fascination  of  Oxford, 
and  became  one  of  her  most  loyal  sons.  Both  a  son 
and  daughter  have  succeeded  him  there,  and  that  not 
unworthily. 

The  following  letters  belong  to  this  period  : — 

To  his  Mother 

"  OXFORD, 

"  June  6,  1887. 

"  Oxford  has  been  vying  with  Glasgow  in  the  matter 
of  foul  and  abominable  weather.  Personally  I  am 
distinctly  opposed  to  the  competition,  and  am  quite 
willing  to  give  Glasgow  the  prize  without  a  contest. 
We  have  very  nearly  had  most  serious  floods  on  the  river, 
but  the  state  of  the  streets  has  been  more  serious  still, 
being  extremely  detrimental  to  summer  clothes.  At 
last  there  seems  to  have  come  a  change — yesterday  was 
a  beautiful  day,  but  to-day  looks  by  no  means  settled. 
I  am  feeling  thoroughly  tired  out  to-day  from  the 
effects  of  a  very  long  and  tiring  day  yesterday. 
Starting  at  9.30,  they  drove  me  half-way  to  Wood- 
stock, and  I  had  to  walk  the  remaining  four  miles 
in  less  than  an  hour  and  conduct  the  service  in  a 
very  perspiring  state.  It  is  quite  a  small  chapel,  and 
they  heard  of  me  thro'  one  of  the  Baptist  ministers  in 
Oxford  for  whom  I  took  an  evening  service  once.  I 
stayed  with  a  very  pleasant,  sensible  Scotchman,  who  was 
very  kind,  and  took  me  a  three-mile  walk  over  Blenheim 
Park,  after  the  address  to  the  Sunday  School  in  the 
afternoon.  We  had  then  just  time  for  tea  before  the 
evening  service,  hot  and  exhausting,  at  the  close  of 
which  I  had  to  set  out  and  walk  my  four  miles  back  to 
meet  my  conveyance.  Arrived  in  Oxford,  I  went 
straight  to  Mansfield  rooms  to  hear  Andrew  Mearns' 
address,  and  then  walked  home  at  half-past  ten,  and  you 
will  not  wonder  that  I  am  tired  to-day.  Andrew 
Mearns  was  splendid  :  I  have  never  heard  Oxford  men 


40  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

express  themselves  as  so  enthusiastically  delighted 
before.  The  humour  and  pathos  of  his  anecdotes  and  the 
genuine  common  sense  of  his  methods  appealed  to  us 
irresistibly,  and  tired  as  I  was,  I  would  not  have  missed 
it  for  anything.  There  was  a  very  large  attendance  of 
men.  They  had  tea  at  8.30,  and  his  address  began  at 
9  o'clock.  Our  first  idea  was  to  have  him  here  for  a 
conference  on  work  in  London,  but  we  preferred  to  hear 
him  speak,  and  he  is  coming  again  for  the  Conference 
later  on. 

"  I  am  going  to  preach  in  Oxford  again  on  Sunday 
evening  next,  Fairbairn  preaching  in  the  morning.  My 
very  kind  entertainer  at  Birmingham  wrote  to  me  to-day 
inviting  me  to  go  over  there  any  Sunday  when  I  should 
like  to  hear  Dr.  Dale,  and  enclosing  a  circular  that  he 
has  sent  round  among  his  Carr's  Lane  congregation  in 
view  of  the  collection  for  Mansfield  on  Sunday  next. 
As  I  shall  probably  be  preaching  at  Steel  House  Lane 
in  the  vacation,  I  hope  to  see  them  and  stay  with  them 
then.  .  .  . 

"  Had  a  delightful  row  on  Saturday  right  up  the 
river  to  a  place  called  Eynsham.  Six  of  us  started,  but 
one  man  who  was  sculling  alone  upset  and  had  to 
trot  home. 

"  My  landlady  wants  to  know  if  I  shall  come  back  to 
my  rooms  next  term.  I  am  very  comfortable,  but  there 
is  just  this— that  Selbie  is  very  anxious  for  me  to  lodge 
with  him,  and  he  is  a  very  fine  fellow  whom  it  would  be 
a  great  advantage  to  know  more  of.  Still  I  am  not 
anxious  to  move ;  but  if  you  have  any  choice  one  way 
or  the  other,  let  me  know  in  this  week's  letter.  .  .  ." 

To  his  Father 

"  O3DTORD, 

"June  13,   1887. 

I  appear  to  be  out  of  ever  so  much  fun  and  frivolity 
just  now.     What  with  picnics  to  the  Wrekin,  to  Shifnal, 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  41 

to  Broseley,  there  must  be  a  great  deal  of  excitement 
going  on.  I  am  sorry  that  I  shall  not  see  Fred  before  he 
goes,  but  as  we  have  an  exam,  to-morrow  and  an  exam, 
on  Friday,  Saturday  is  the  earliest  day  I  can  escape,  and 
I  have  written  to  Birmingham  to  ask  for  an  invitation 
for  the  Sunday.  It  will  be  my  last  chance  of  hearing 
Dr.  Dale  for  a  long  time.  Of  course  I  shall  come  flying 
home  on  the  Monday.  On  Friday  after  the  Hebrew 
exam,  we  are  going  to  row  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Fairbairn  and 
their  two  little  girls  up  the  river  as  far  as  Eynsham.  It 
will  be  a  Mansfield  College  Excursion,  and  we  shall  have 
good  fun  I  expect.  We  did  our  first  exam,  on  Saturday 
morning  in  Paleography.  I  felt  it  was  quite  ridiculous 
for  anyone  to  go  in  for  an  exam,  with  so  absurdly  small 
a  knowledge  of  the  subject  as  I  had.  But  there  is  a 
certain  amount  of  comfort  in  the  thought  that  nobody 
seemed  to  do  much  better.  Dr.  Sanday  is  examining, 
and  has  invited  us  to  dinner  on  Wednesday,  after  which 
he  is  going  to  look  over  the  papers.  Verily  the  jam  and 
the  pill  are  reversed. 

"  Yesterday  morning  I  preached  at  Summertown. 
It  was  scorchingly  hot  walking  out  there,  but  we  had  a 
good  congregation  and  a  very  quiet,  nice  service.  In 
the  afternoon  I  went  to  Dr.  Fairbairn' s,  and  we  had  after- 
noon tea  on  the  lawn,  which  was  pleasant.  The  evening 
service  at  George  Street  was,  on  the  whole,  good.  Dr. 
Fairbairn  came,  but  I  have  ceased  to  mind  him,  and  he 
was  very  nice  at  the  close.  After  this  I  went,  in  company 
with  four  others,  to  Bagley  Wood  to  hear  the  nightingale. 
It  was  a  superb  evening.  The  sun  had  set,  and  the  whole 
sky  was  crimson,  fading  off  into  blue  and  green.  The 
nightingale  we  did  not  hear  till  we  had  come  some  little 
distance  away ;  but  then  we  heard  it  fairly  well.  We 
got  home  at  a  quarter  to  twelve. 

"  The  river  is  by  far  the  j oiliest  place  there  is  now. 
To  paddle  contentedly  up  and  lie  under  the  trees  and 
read — philosophy,  that  is,  in  the  shape  of  a  novel — is  a 


42 


very  profitable  kind  of  life.     I  am  going  to  ask  Dr. 
Fairbairn  on  Friday,  when  we  go  up  the  river,  if  he  do 
not  think  that 

One  impulse  from  a  vernal  wood 

Can  teach  you  more  of  man, 
Of  moral  evil  and  of  good, 

Than  all  the  sages  can. 

"The  Cricket  Match  between  Surrey  and  the 
University  was  a  great  defeat  for  the  Varsity,  but  a  great 
treat  to  those  of  us  who  wanted  to  see  some  really  good 
cricket.  The  way  Shuter  and  Read  hit  was  terrific. 
They  simply  slashed  the  Oxford  bowling  to  the  boundary 
over  after  over.  I  have  never  seen  such  fast  scoring ; 
indeed,  I  suppose  scoring  has  very  seldom  been  so 
fast. 

"  The  Ruskin  Society  was  photographed  on  Friday 
in  Worcester  Gardens.  I  don't  know  what  sort  of  a 
success  it  will  be,  but  I  fancy  fairly  good. 

"  Owen  Edwards  has  just  been  in  for  his  final  degree 
exam.,  and  has  had  a  hot  week  of  it.  Should  think  he 
has  done  well.  They  have  renewed  his  scholarship  for 
him  this  vac.  to  enable  him  to  travel,  and  he  is  off  to 
the  Continent.  ..." 

While  he  was  yet  a  student  at  Oxford,  and  had  more 
than  a  year  of  his  course  to  complete,  Home  was  called 
to  the  pastorate  of  Allen  Street  Church,  Kensington.1  It 
is  a  church  famous  in  the  annals  of  London  Congrega- 
tionalism. Its  foundation  dates  from  the  year  1793, 
and  was  the  result  of  religious  work  done  in  the  Royal 
Borough  by  a  Mr.  Saunders,  "  body  coachman "  to 
George  III.  This  led  to  the  formation  of  a  dissenting 
interest,  and  under  the  leadership  of  one  John  Broad- 
wood,  "  a  harpsichord  maker,"  the  following  appeal  was 

1  A  full  account  of  its  history  will  be  found  in  Dr.  Stoughton's  book 
Congregationalism  in  the  Court  Suburb,  and  in  Eorne'g  centenary 
volume,  A  Century  of  Christian  Service. 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  43 

addressed  to  the  "  friends  of  Christianity  and  religious 
liberty  "  in  the  neighbourhood  : — 

*'  We,  the  undersigned,  having  been  educated  in 
the  religious  principles  of  Protestant  Dissenters,  from 
motives  of  Religion  and  Piety,  for  conveniency  to  our- 
selves and  families,  and  to  others  who  may  be  like  minded 
with  us  in  matters  of  Religion,  being  likewise  solicited 
by  many  serious,  well-disposed  Christians,  and  depending 
on  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence,  with  the  mild 
government  of  this  country,  have  resolved  to  erect 
a  Chapel  for  the  worship  of  Almighty  God  in  the  Parish 
of  Kensington." 

Then  followed  an  appeal  for  money,  of  which  £2,000 
was  eventually  raised,  and  the  first  chapel  was  built 
in  Hornton  Street.  It  was  opened  for  public  worship 
in  the  following  year  under  licence  from  the  Bishop  of 
London  "  pursuant  to  the  Act  of  Toleration."  The 
first  minister  was  the  Rev.  John  Neal  Lake.  He  was 
followed  by  as  noble  a  succession  of  men  as  any  church 
was  ever  privileged  to  know,  viz.  John  Clayton,  John 
Leifchild,  Robert  Vaughan,  John  Stoughton,  Alexander 
Raleigh,  and  Colmer  B.  Symes.  It  was  under  Dr. 
Stoughton  that  the  present  building  in  Allen  Street  was 
erected  in  1855.  The  chapel  is  large  and  commodious, 
but  aesthetically  little  can  be  said  in  its  favour.  It  is 
dull,  stiff,  and  formal  according  to  the  Nonconformist 
pattern  of  the  time.  But  it  is  what  the  Americans  call 
an  excellent  auditorium,  easy  for  both  speaker  and 
hearers,  and  with  an  air  of  solid  comfort  about  it  that 
is  not  without  its  attraction. 

Mr.  Colmer  Symes  resigned  the  pastorate  at  Ken- 
sington in  March  1887.  He  left  the  church  in  a  strong 
and  healthy  condition,  under  the  leadership  of  an 
unusually  capable  body  of  deacons.  Among  them  were 
Thomas  Walker,  then  editor  of  the  Daily  News,  William 


44  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

Holborn,  William  Winterbotham,  Edward  Spicer,  and 
Henry  Wright,  all  well  known  and  honoured  names  in 
Congregational  circles.  Shortly  after  the  church  became 
vacant,  Home  was  invited  to  preach  as  a  '  supply. 
He  produced  so  deep  an  impression  that  the  invitation 
was  at  once  repeated,  and  the  thoughts  of  many  began 
to  turn  to  him  as  a  possible  candidate  for  the  pulpit. 
He  had  aroused  the  eager  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  congregation,  while  the  elders 
among  them,  of  whom  there  were  many,  found  in  his 
preaching  an  unexpected  maturity  and  spiritual  insight 
which  greatly  inclined  them  in  his  favour.  Negotiations 
were  opened  up  with  Dr.  Fairbairn,  and  Home  was  made 
aware  of  what  was  going  on.  He  wrote  to  his  father  in 
November  1887  as  follows  : — 


To  his  Father 

"  OXFORD, 

"  November  11,  1887. 

"  How  I  wish  it  were  possible  to  run  down  home 
to-night  and  have  a  right  good  talk  with  you  about  a 
matter  that  has  come  to  disturb  the  even  surface  of  my 
present  life,  and  which  is  more  than  skin-deep.  The 
Dr.  has  been  greatly  amazing  and  bewildering  me  by  a 
long  chat  we  have  had  together,  in  which  he  has  surprised 
me  by  some  very  unexpected  intelligence.  It  is  in 
connection  with  the  Kensington  Church — he  wants  me 
to  face  the  fact  that  I  shall  have  to  consider  whether 
I  should  be  willing  to  go  there.  How  far  matters  have 
gone  I  do  not  know — and  he  is  too  astute  a  diplomatist 
to  reveal,  but  they  want  me  to  go  for  two  successive 
Sundays  in  January,  and  I  suppose  intend  to  decide 
finally  then.  But  the  main  fact  is,  so  the  Dr.  says, 
that  there  is  a  general  movement  in  favour  of  this,  and 
the  leading  men  of  the  Church  have  written  to  him  to  this 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  45 

effect.  The  question,  as  he  puts  it  to  me,  is  this,  '  Will 
you  offer  a  resolute  resistance  to  any  proposal  from  the 
Kensington  Church  ? '  I  have  told  the  Dr.  frankly 
what  my  first  feeling  is.  (1)  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  a 
congenial  sphere — not  that  I  do  not  like  the  people,  for 
they  were  more  than  kind,  but  that  my  sympathies  have 
always  been  with  the  working  class  of  people.  His 
answer  is,  '  You  must  try  to  do  them  good.'  (2)  It  is 
too  big  a  field  and  too  heavy  a  soil  for  so  young  a  steer 
to  plough — this  the  Dr.  laughed  at.  He  says  he  told 
the  Kensington  people  this,  and  they  said,  '  We  want 
a  young  man,  we  have  a  number  of  competent  people 
who  will  rally  round  him  and  take  the  burden  off  his 
shoulders.' 

"  I  cannot  make  out  what  Dr.  Fair  bairn's  opinion  is. 
He  agreed  with  many  of  my  objections  and  yet  seemed 
greatly  at  times  to  favour  going  further  with  the  affair. 
I  suggested  that  I  should  not  preach  there  any  more — 
and  I  could  agree  not  to  do  so  with  a  very  light  and 
relieved  soul — but  this  he  is  not  at  all  agreeable  to.  At 
the  same  time  he  seems  to  be  jealous  of  my  interests, 
so  far  as  binding  myself  as  yet  is  concerned.  The 
people  at  Kensington  said  to  me  when  I  was  there,  sig- 
nificantly as  I  now  see,  '  We  are  in  no  hurry,  we  can 
afford  to  wait  for  anyone  whom  we  like.' 

"  I  have  told  you  the  whole  affair.  Of  course  you  will 
tell  no  one  else.  I  would  not  have  any  of  the  Mansfield 
men  know  about  it  for  anything.  Think  it  over,  and 
talk  it  over  with  Mother  on  Sunday,  and  write  me  some 
guidance.  It  is  very  troubling  to  have  to  decide  these 
things  so  early.  It  would  be  almost  better  for  a  fellow 
not  to  preach  at  all  till  his  last  year.  I  shall  look  forward 
to  hearing  from  you,  for  the  question  of  engaging  myself 
for  two  Sundays  in  January  must  be  decided  soon,  and 
that  may  be  the  first  step. 

"  Meanwhile  I  must  try  and  brace  my  nerves  to  face 
the  Lyndhurst  Road  congregation,  and  pray  to  be 


46  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

delivered  from  the  fear  of  them  and  to  be  filled  with  the 
Spirit." 

To  his  Father 

"  6  LADBBOKK  TEBEACE,  LONDON,  W., 

"January  13,  1888. 

"  I  am  staying  here  with  Mr.  Winterbotham  till 
Monday,  and  am  looking  forward  to  a  thoroughly  pleasant 
time.  The  event  I  dreaded  most  is  over — the  interview 
with  the  deacons  which  was  held  after  last  night's 
week-night  service.  The  service  was  an  extraordinary 
one,  the  large  lecture  hall  being  full  from  end  to  end. 
Tell  Mother  I  gave  them  practically  my  first  sermon,  *  I 
am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.'  Then  came  the 
ordeal.  I  felt  so  young  among  all  those  deacons ;  but 
they  were  wonderfully  kind,  and  I  managed  to  stammer 
out  a  few  sentences  of  thanks  for  their  unexpected  kind- 
ness, and  then  I  told  them  quite  frankly  the  difficulties 
that  had  suggested  themselves  to  my  mind,  the  greatness 
of  the  work,  my  own  inexperience,  my  need  for  ampler 
leisure  for  private  reading  than  I  was  likely  to  get  here,  the 
long  time  before  I  could  come  for  good,  and  so  on.  Finally 
I  asked  for  a  fortnight  before  a  final  answer  :  in  that 
time  I  shall  see  Dr.  Fairbairn  and  Horton,  and  shall  be 
better  able  to  make  up  my  mind.  Mr.  Holborn,  for  the 
deacons,  fully  acknowledged  all  the  difficulties,  but  pro- 
mised the  most  cordial  help  they  could  give.  He  thought 
I  was  quite  entitled  to  ask  for  a  fortnight  to  consider 
the  question.  In  order  that  I  might  understand  fully 
all  the  details,  he  proceeded  to  speak  on  financial  subjects. 
He  said  the  proposal  of  the  deacons  was  that  if  I  accepted, 
they  would  wish  me  to  preach  twelve  Sundays  in  the  year, 
and  would  pay  me  100  guineas  a  year,  Mr.  White  taking 
the  remainder  of  the  salary.  At  the  completion  of  my 
course  I  should  enter  into  the  full  stipend,  which  ranges 
from  £600  to  £700  a  year.  Of  course  one  feels  this  is 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  47 

dangerously  much  for  a  youngster  like  myself,  but  there 
is  the  Church  to  be  considered,  and  one  knows  that  if 
they  do  not  raise  this  money  for  the  minister  they  would 
very  likely  not  give  it  at  all. 

"  We  have  now,  I  think,  the  whole  scheme  fairly  before 
us  ;  we  can  see  it  in  all  its  aspects.  I  have  already 
learned  greatly  to  revere  and  love  some  of  the  people,  and 
their  enthusiasm  is  of  course  now  a  great  factor  in  the 
question.  Edward  White  has  written  agreeing  to  do 
his  part  if  I  do  mine.  Mr.  Winterbotham  says  the  oldest 
and  most  cautious  of  the  members  have  had  no  doubt, 
the  younger  ones  are  earnestly  enthusiastic.  Amazing 
as  this  is,  one  can  only  humbly  thank  God  and  look  to 
Him  for  light.  '  We  will  surround  you,'  says  Mr. 
Walker,  '  with  our  affection  and  our  diligence.'  Has 
anyone,  have  I  least  of  all,  a  right  to  shrink  from  the 
prospect  of  personal  labour  and  strain  when  others  of 
far  greater  age  are  willing  to  step  in  and  share  the 
burden  ?  " 

Ultimately  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  preach  on  the 
two  Sundays  in  January,  and  that  practically  settled  the 
matter.  The  church  enthusiastically  called  him  to  the 
pastorate,  and  expressed  its  willingness  to  wait  for  the 
next  eighteen  months  in  order  that  their  new  minister 
might  complete  his  college  course.  It  was  arranged, 
at  the  same  time,  that  the  Rev.  Edward  White,  clarum 
et  venerabile  nomen,  who  had  recently  resigned  his  long 
pastorate  at  Kentish  Town,  should  take  charge  of  the 
church  meanwhile.  It  was  an  excellent  arrangement, 
and  thus  secured  for  Kensington,  as  was  said,  the 
services  of  the  youngest  old  man  and  the  oldest  young 
man  in  Congregationalism  simultaneously.  Home 
preached  once  a  month  during  the  interregnum,  but 
otherwise  Mr.  White  took  entire  charge  of  the  church, 
and  most  loyally  prepared  the  way  for  the  new  ministry. 
Home  writes  of  him  : — 


48  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

"  On  Tuesday  morning  I  went  to  see  Edward  White 
and  have  lunch  with  him.  I  don't  know  that  I  have 
ever  taken  to  anyone  at  once  and  so  heartily  as  to  him. 
He  is  simplicity  and  kindliness  itself,  so  unselfish  and 
generous.  *  I  have  no  future,'  he  said  laughing,  '  I  am 
only  an  animated  past.  My  only  concern  can  be  to 
make  the  whole  thing  answer.'  He  will  take  a  house  at 
Kensington,  if  the  arrangement  is  so  made,  and  it  will 
be,  he  says,  a  home  for  me  when  I  am  there.  I  don't 
know  how  to  say  sufficient  of  his  kindness.  He  had 
intended  to  retire  now  and  devote  himself  to  writing, 
but  the  call  has  come  to  Kensington,  and  he  is  willing 
to  give  up  his  former  schemes  and  resume  pastoral 
work.  *  My  only  fear,'  he  says,  *  is  lest  I  should  not  last 
out  long  enough  for  you.'  " 

The  formal  "  call "  to  Kensington  was  received  early 
in  January,  1888.  It  took  the  rather  unusual  form  of  a 
pledge  to  invite  Home  to  the  pastorate  at  the  completion 
of  his  college  course,  and  was  accompanied  by  the  follow- 
ing letter  signed  by  all  the  deacons : — 

"  KENSINGTON  CHAPEL, 

"  January  9,  1888. 

"To 

Mr.  Charles  Silvester  Home,  Master  of  Arts. 

"  DEAR  SIR, 

"  It  is  with  the  greatest  pleasure  that  we,  the 
Deacons,  find  ourselves  authorized  and  directed  to 
approach  you,  with  regard  to  your  acceptance  of  the 
Pastorate  of  this  Church,  and  to  hand  you  a  transcript 
of  the  resolution,  to  such  effect,  which  was  passed  at  a 
special  meeting  of  members  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  on 
Thursday  evening  last. 

'  The  course  has  been  arrived  at  after  the  most  serious 
and  prayerful  consideration,  which  its  solemn  importance 
and  momentous  issues  demand. 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  49 

"  For  a  long  succession  of  years  this  Church  has 
enjoyed  the  great  blessing  of  a  faithful  ministry — 
exercised  by  godly  and  learned  men,  who  have  asserted 
and  enforced  the  great  truths  of  the  Evangelical  Faith, 
as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  we  are  more  than  ever 
convinced  that  it  is  from  the  clear  apprehension,  hearty 
reception  and  sincere  application  of  those  truths  that 
the  elevation  of  individual  and  family  life,  the  efficiency 
of  the  Church,  and  the  regeneration  of  society  are  to  be 
hoped  for. 

"  Desiring  to  renew  and  perpetuate  the  blessing  of 
such  a  ministry,  and  being  convinced  of  your  agreement 
with  us  in  fundamental  belief  and  principal  aims — a 
confidence  which  originated  in  the  testimony  of  others 
and  has  been  confirmed  and  increased  as  we  have  profited 
by  your  preaching — we  have  agreed  as  a  Church  to  ask 
you  to  labor  among  us  in  the  Lord.  The  importance 
we  attach  to  a  thorough  grounding  in  biblical  study — the 
most  extensive,  profound  and  fruitful  of  all  studies — and 
the  advantages  we  look  for  from  a  sound  exegetical 
theology,  have  not  permitted  us  to  defer  to  the  wishes  of 
those  who,  in  the  desire  to  profit  at  once  by  your  labors, 
requested  us  to  ask  for  a  curtailment  of  your  career  at 
Mansfield  College.  Our  proposal,  therefore,  is  that  in  the 
event  of  your  compliance  with  our  wishes,  pledges  should 
be  exchanged,  between  this  Church  and  yourself — the 
Church  now  engaging  to  give  you  a  legal  call  to  the  pas- 
torate when  your  College  career  is  completed — you  in 
return  to  accept  the  same  at  that  period. 

"  The  resolution  of  the  Church  will  satisfy  you  as  to 
the  Spirit  in  which  this  invitation  is  made,  and  the 
working  details  of  the  proposed  arrangement  may  be 
best  settled  on  personal  conference.  In  the  meantime 
we  affectionately  and  hopefully  commend  our  proposal 
to  your  earnest  and  prayerful  consideration,  believing 
that  in  the  office  to  which  we  invite  you,  you  will  find 
4 


50  OXFORD   AND    KENSINGTON 

the  association  of  many  loyal  and  warm  hearts  of  sym- 
pathy, to  uphold  and  to  encourage  you  in  a  sphere  of 
labor,  worthy  of  the  highest  gifts  and  largest  acquire- 
ments and  opportunities  of  serving  our  Glorious  Master, 
not  inferior  to  any  that  are  to  be  elsewhere  met  with. 
"  Yours,  dear  Mr.  Home,  very  faithfully, 

HENRY  WRIGHT 

THOMAS  WALKER 

JOHN  BUD GEN 

ELI  PLATER 

EDWARD  SPICER 

THOMAS  WILLIAMS 

WILLIAM  H.  WINTERBOTHAM 

WILLIAM  HOLBORN  (Secy.)." 

The  action  of  the  Kensington  church  was  watched 
with  deep  interest  and  perhaps  some  misgiving  in 
Congregational  circles.  That  a  church  with  its  history 
and  traditions  should  call  a  young  and  untried  student 
was  regarded  as,  at  least,  a  doubtful  experiment.  It  was 
much  as  though  a  canonry  at  Westminster  had  been 
offered  to  a  raw  curate.  The  fact,  too,  that  Home  came 
from  Mansfield  did  not  predispose  people  in  his  favour. 
Mansfield  itself  was  still  in  the  experimental  stage,  and 
in  certain  circles  in  Congregationalism  was  not  looked 
upon  too  hopefully.  Nor  were  the  misgivings  all  on  one 
side.  Home,  too,  approached  the  momentous  decision 
with  great  fear  and  trembling.  He  knew,  more  than 
most,  how  big  was  the  task  that  lay  before  him  and  how 
slender  was  his  equipment  for  it.  But  the  cordiality 
and  unanimity  of  the  people  made  his  duty  plain,  and 
that  being  so,  there  was  no  further  room  for  hesitation. 
As  always,  he  took  the  brave  and  straight  line.  He 
writes  in  his  diary,  January  23,  1888  : — 

'  Wrote,  directed,  and  posted  an  acceptance  of  the 
call  to  Kensington.    And  now  one  pauses  and  holds 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  51 

one's  breath  and  thinks  of  what  one  is  committed  to, 
and  hardly  dares  look  the  whole  thing  fully  in  the  face, 
but  puts  one's  hand  in  God's  and  says,  '  My  Father,  I 
will  go  there — or  anywhere — with  Thee.'  And  now  to 
work  and  preparation  with  a  new  spirit  and  a  new 
purpose.  Everything  will  be  in  a  new  light  henceforth, 
and  will  be  judged  by  the  bearing  it  has  on  this  opening 
life  of  mine.  And  may  the  Father  of  all  power,  the 
Christ  of  all  grace,  the  Spirit  of  all  inspiration,  take  my 
life  and  cleanse  it  and  energize  it  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
work  that  lies  ahead." 

Home's  last  year  at  Oxford  was  a  time  of  almost 
feverish  activity — a  foretaste  of  what  was  to  come.  He 
was  naturally  divided  between  the  claims  of  the  college 
and  of  Kensington,  and  he  did  his  best  to  be  just  to  both. 
He  had  come  at  one  bound  into  prominence  among  the 
Free  Churches,  and  he  was  besieged  with  invitations  to 
preach  all  up  and  down  the  country.  It  was  thoughtless 
and  cruel  to  press  him  so  thus  early,  but  he  was  not 
unwilling,  for  he  loved  preaching,  and  felt  that  continual 
practice  would  be  a  good  preparation  for  the  Kensington 
pulpit.  He  was  delighted  with  the  reception  he  met 
with  whenever  he  visited  his  future  church.  The  ser- 
vices were  crowded,  especially  on  Sunday  evenings,  and 
many  young  men  and  women  came  forward  with  offers 
of  adherence  and  help.  In  April  1888  he  conducted  an 
eight  days'  mission  at  Madeley,  in  Shropshire,  with  the 
help  of  his  friend  Wolfendale.  It  was  a  crowded  and 
impressive  time.  He  writes  :  "  A  very  helpful  and  useful 
feature  has  been  our  Bible  readings.  I  think  they  have 
been  greatly  enjoyed,  and  I  am  sure  have  been  richly 
beneficial  to  both  Wolfendale  and  myself.  But  how 
difficult  it  is  to  get  right  at  the  people."  At  Oxford  he 
helped  to  found  a  university  branch  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society — the  first  evidence  of  that  deep 
interest  in  foreign  missions  which  distinguished  him 


52  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

throughout  his  life.  He  also  assisted  at  the  inaugurating 
of  an  Oxford  University  Home  Rule  League,  and  writes 
with  admiration  of  the  speech  of  Sir  Charles  Russell. 
"  Strong,  firm,  wiry,  bullet-headed,  he  is  tremendously 
impressive."  On  another  occasion  he  heard  John  Morley 
at  the  Union. 

"  He  had,  of  course,  a  largely  hostile  audience,  but  his 
speech  was  most  patiently  and  even  cordially  listened 
to.  He  was  most  skilful  in  adapting  himself  to  his 
audience,  and  the  effect  of  his  speech  was  evident.  I 
think  him  the  speaker  best  worth  hearing  of  any  I  have 
had  the  fortune  to  hear.  Dr.  Fairbairn  says  he  never 
felt  such  a  strong  sense  of  an  audience  being  convinced 
against  its  will." 

During  all  this  time  Home  plodded  steadily  on  with 
his  college  work,  and  read  pretty  widely  beyond  the 
requirements  of  the  curriculum.  He  preached  fre- 
quently in  the  sermon  class,  and  there  and  elsewhere  was 
severely  criticized  by  Dr.  Fairbairn  both  for  the  form 
and  matter  of  his  discourses.  The  good  doctor  was 
afraid  that  speaking  came  too  easily  to  him,  and  advised 
him  to  be  more  rugged  and  to  cultivate  a  logical  and 
argumentative  style.  Some  of  his  criticism  Home 
resented  almost  passionately.  Of  one  sermon  he  writes 
in  his  diary  : — 

"  As  to  the  manner  of  delivery  he  is  no  doubt  right, 
but  as  regards  the  strictures  he  makes  on  the  matter  of 
the  sermon  I  absolutely  and  totally  disagree.  Obedience 
and  reverence  for  one's  Principal  does  not  bind  one  to 
accept  all  he  says  as  Gospel,  and  I  cannot  accept  his 
criticisms  as  true  or  just.  It  is  certainly  curious  that  he 
should  have  pounced  on  the  very  sermon  that  I  have 
been  most  thanked  for — the  one  I  preached  first  at  Ken- 
sington, and  that  has  cost  me  more  than  any  other  I  have 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  53 

written.  Fairbairn  advises  me  to  argue  out  my  sub- 
jects more.  Well,  it  is  not  a  difficult  thing  to  argue, 
but  when  people  come  to  church  to  be  helped  and 
encouraged  and  strengthened  amid  their  troubles  and 
difficulties,  it  is  a  poor  thing  to  put  them  off  by  arguing 
them  into  a  faith  they  have  never  doubted.  Argument 
is  often  inhuman.  I  do  not  say  it  has  not  its  place,  but 
it  is  perilous  to  recommend  it  too  much." 

The  following  letters  complete  the  story  of  his  Oxford 
days  : — 

To  his  Mother 

"  OXFORD, 

"  January  16,  1888. 

"  It  is  very  late,  and  I  am  fagged  thoroughly,  and  can 
only  write  a  short  letter.  ...  I  have  had  a  lot  of  really 
helpful  letters,  including  a  very  good  one  from  Uncle 
More,  and  yet  the  decision  is  hard  enough.  The  reason 
is  in  myself,  and  the  more  I  have  learned  of  the  people, 
the  more  I  have  got  to  feel  the  responsibility.  Yesterday 
was  in  many  ways  a  grand  day.  We  had  a  great  congre- 
gation in  the  morning,  the  chapel  being  nearer  full  than 
I  have  seen  it  before.  I  preached  about  Daniel,  and 
enjoyed  the  service  thoroughly.  In  the  afternoon  I  gave 
away  the  prizes  at  the  Boys'  Sunday  School,  and  gave 
an  address.  There  are  nearly  700  children  in  the  schools. 
In  the  evening  I  preached  that  harvest  sermon — with 
modifications — and  we  had  a  very  large  congregation. 
The  final  message  from  the  deacons  before  leaving  was 
that  I  was  to  consider  that  if  I  accepted  I  should  be  as 
free  as  I  liked  to  relieve  myself  by  occasional  exchanges, 
especially  at  the  outset,  when  the  strain  might  be  great. 
As  you  say,  they  have  conquered  one  by  kindness. 
Have  seen  Dr.  Fairbairn,  and  had  an  hour  and  a  half's 
good  conversation.  He  does  not  see  how  I  can  decline, 
but  is  opposed  to  my  preaching  there  oftener  than  nine 


54  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

times  a  year ;  as  to  this  he  is  going  to  write  to  Mr. 
Spicer. 

"  Tell  Mr.  B.  I  feel  I  shall  have  to  turn  Conservative 
after  that  gushing  paragraph  in  the  St.  Stephen's  Review 
of  January  14,  which  was  sent  to  me  by  an  interested 

friend. 

"  More  of  the  congregation  are  Mr.  Barran,  M.P. 
for  Leeds,  and  his  family ;  Sir  Risdon  Bennett,  son  of 
old  Dr.  Bennett,  the  minister ;  Miss  Moffat,  daughter  of 
Dr.  Moffat,  and  a  very  fine  lady ;  Mr.  Hubbard,  director 
of  the  G.W.R.  and  late  President  of  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society.  ..." 

To  his  Father 

"  188  CROMWELL  ROAD,  LONDON, 
"  January  9,  1888. 

"  You  will  probably  be  anxious  to  know  how  things 
turned  out  yesterday  here,  and  so  I  may  as  well  fill  up  a 
spare  half  hour  with  recording  the  same.  I  reached  here 
about  six  o'clock,  and  had  a  very  kindly  welcome  from 
the  Spicers.  They  were  all  exceedingly  vexed  about  the 
paragraph  in  the  Christian  World,1  and  it  is  an  evidence 
of  their  kindly  thoughtfulness  that  they  directed  Mr. 
Walker  to  write  to  me  so  as  to  put  me  at  ease.  Sunday 
morning  came,  and  I  felt  more  troubled  about  the  service 
than  I  have  done  since  Carr's  Lane.  Mr.  Holborn  did 
not  improve  matters  for  me  by  asking  to  shake  hands 
with  me  '  in  a  new  capacity,'  for  he  said,  whatever  might 
be  the  result,  nothing  could  alter  the  fact  that  I  was  their 
chosen  minister.  [Note  by  his  Father.  Mr.  Holborn 
has  since  given  £100  to  Mansfield  College  as  '  a  thank- 
offering.']  There  was  a  large  congregation  :  doubtless 
'  the  curious '  were  there  in  force.  I  was  very  uncom- 
fortable during  the  early  part  of  the  service,  missed  out 
part  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  forgot  the  notices,  and 
1  Containing  a  premature  disclosure  of  the  plans  for  Kensington. 


OXFORD   AND    KENSINGTON  55 

other  eccentricities.  But  it  wore  off,  and  I  fancy  I 
preached  as  well  as  I  have  ever  done  in  my  life.  After 
the  service  a  gentleman  came  up  to  speak  to  me  who 
was  one  of  the  grandest  looking  men  I  have  ever  seen, 
not  in  face  only,  but  in  figure  as  well.  He  spoke  very 
kindly,  and  afterwards  I  was  told  it  was  Dr.  Reynolds 
of  Cheshunt.  I  am  glad  to  have  seen  him,  and  glad,  too, 
that  I  did  not  know  he  was  there.  Another  minister 
who  came  to  speak  to  me  was  Edward  H.  Jones,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Board  or  something.  I  had 
a  quiet  afternoon  and  a  walk  with  Mr.  Spicer,  and  then 
came  the  evening  service.  There  was  again  a  very  large 
congregation,  and  we  had  a  good  time.  As  soon  as  it 
was  over  who  should  come  hurrying  into  the  vestry, 
the  very  picture  of  personified  energy,  but  Mr.  Edward 
White  himself.  He  was  tremendously  jolly  and  full  of 
spirits,  though  terribly  down  on  the  paragraph  in  the 
Christian  World  and  Nonconformist.  Of  course,  it  greatly 
offended  many  of  his  friends  at  Kentish  Town  that  he 
had  told  them  nothing  about  it,  and  he  had  to  ask  his 
Church  to  remain  behind  yesterday  morning  that  he 
might  tell  them  how  it  was." 

To  his  Mother 

"  OXFOBD, 

"  February  13,  1888. 

"  Please  thank  Father  very  much  for  his  splendidly 
long  letter  and  all  his  suggestions.  The  '  Board  of 
Elders '  suggestion  is  really  good,  and  I  wish  it  could  be 
adopted.  We  shall  be  able,  perhaps,  to  talk  it  over  later 
on  and  see  how  the  feeling  of  the  people  is.  Then  I  shall 
certainly  feel  the  responsibility  to  lay  out  part  of  the 
salary  on  special  Church  work.  Of  course,  one  naturally 
thinks  of  Mission  work,  of  which  there  is  almost  or  quite 
none  done  at  present  by  the  Allen  Street  people.  Thus 
there  is  no  opening  in  this  direction  for  the  energies 


56  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

of  the  younger  people  of  the  Church.  Now  there  are 
districts  adjoining  Kensington  that  apparently  are  in 
special  need  of  Missionary  effort,  noticeably  Fulham. 
Of  course  I  have  not  as  yet  had  the  opportunity  of  really 
examining  the  ground  for  a  possible  mission,  but  am  sure 
we  ought  to  have  one.  Now  it  is  comforting  to  reflect 
that  one  would  be  able  to  support  such  a  work  if  neces- 
sary out  of  one's  own  pocket,  and  certainly  I  shall  feel 
compelled  to  do  as  much  as  I  can  in  this  way.  Here  is 
another  question.  I  used  to  say  in  innocent,  unsus- 
pecting days  that  no  minister  ought  to  have  a  salary  of 
over  £400  :  the  surplus  he  ought  to  devote  to  helping 
weak  Churches.  Does  it  strike  you  as  possible  to  help 
weak  Churches  to  the  extent  of  £100  a  year  ?  You  see, 
if,  as  Father  half  suggests,  one  were  to  forgo  part  of 
the  salary,  the  chances  are  one  would  only  be  relieving 
those  who  are  quite  able  to  pay,  and  who  might  not  give 
the  same  amount  in  other  directions.  This  would  be 
perilous,  and  I  fancy  the  better  way  will  be  to  endeavour 
to  cultivate  a  very  high  sense  of  one's  stewardship  and 
the  claims  of  the  poorer  brethren  on  the  rich.  So  much 
for  Father's  letter.  I  do  hope  that  as  from  time  to  time 
fresh  suggestions  strike  him  he  will  find  time  to  send  them 
me.  This  eighteen  months  should  be  a  splendid  time  for 
forming  and  maturing  plans,  facing  the  questions  that 
will  arise,  and  so  on.  I  enclose  an  interesting  letter  from 
Mr.  White  about  proposed  alterations  in  the  Kensington 
service.  Have  written  thanking  him  much  for  his 
willingness  to  undertake  the  reform.  I  am,  however, 
doubtful  as  to  the  General  Thanksgiving — whether  it 
will  not  develop  500  '  Praying  Mills '  instead  of  one.  But 
am  willing  to  try  the  experiment.  I  have  just  returned 
from  my  visit  to  Stepney— a  most  interesting  one  in 
every  way.  It  was,  of  course,  delightful  to  stay  with 
Leonard.  He  now  luxuriates  in  entrancing  apartments, 
fares  sumptuously  every  day,  breathes  the  perfumed 
atmosphere  of  the  aristocracy,  dines  late,  and  is  evi- 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  57 

dently  in  diligent  training  for  Kensington.  Here  I,  too, 
enjoyed  the  couch  of  comfort.  But  I  had  to  rise  early  on 
Sunday  morning  to  get  to  Stepney  in  time.  You  may 
have  imagined,  as  I  did,  that  Stepney  Meeting  House 
would  be  a  poor  sort  of  building,  harmonizing  with  its 
surroundings.  Instead  of  this,  it  is  one  of  the  handsomest 
places  in  the  denomination,  with  a  very  fine  spire, 
splendid  organ,  carved  wooden  pulpit,  and  handsome 
circular  stained  glass  window.  It  seats  1,300  people, 
and  is  a  very  impressive-looking  edifice,  both  inside  and 
out.  Its  classrooms  and  vestries  are  most  complete. 
It  has  also  two  or  three  spacious  halls  and  an  admirable 
Sunday  School.  To  the  Chapel  also  belongs  a  row  of 
well-endowed  alms-houses.  The  morning  congregation 
is  unfortunately  small  and  eminently  respectable.  The 
evening  large  and  very  varied.  The  singing  is  poor, 
but  the  people  listen  admirably,  and  I  have  never 
preached  to  a  congregation  that  seemed  more  intelligent 
at  catching  every  point.  .  .  ." 

To  his  Mother 

"  KENSINGTON, 

"  September  24,  1888. 

".  .  .  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  think  that  you  now  know 
something  of  the  place  I  am  working  at  and  the  kind  of 
congregation,  and  also  something  of  the  character  of  our 
leading  people.  We  have  had  a  most  encouraging  time 
since  you  were  with  us.  Last  Thursday  night  our  Lecture 
Room  was  absolutely  full,  a  most  inspiring  sight.  Yes- 
terday we  had  very  capital  congregations,  the  great 
multitude  of  strangers  being  a  noticeable  feature.  For 
the  morning  I  had  rewritten  a  very  old  sermon  on 
'  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,'  and  in  the  evening  I 
preached  on  the  Rev.  Version  text,  *  We  love,  because  He 
first  loved  us.  Not  merely  love  to  God,  but  all  our  love 
is  because  He  first  loved.'  Both  services  seemed  very 


58  OXFORD   AND    KENSINGTON 

impressive.  Next  Sunday  evening  is  the  Workmen's 
Lecture  on  John  Bunyan  and  his  influence  on  English 
Life.  This  makes  me  very  busy,  as  of  course  there  is 
another  morning  sermon  and  a  week-night  address  as 
well. 


To  his  Father 


"  KENSINGTON, 

"  October  I,  1888. 


"  I  enter  on  my  last  week's  work  here  with  sincere 
regret.  It  has  been  so  happy,  so  encouraging,  that  I 
could  wish  it  twice  as  long.  The  experience,  too,  has 
been  most  helpful  and  the  kindness  of  the  people  beyond 
all  expression.  On  Thursday  the  Lecture  Room  was  full 
and  the  whole  service  of  the  heartiest.  I  spoke  on  the 
imprisonment  of  the  soul,  and  am  sure  we  had  a  good 
time.  Yesterday  morning  we  had  a  large  congregation. 
People  are  coming  back.  The  Raleighs  were  there  in 
force,  and  the  Holborns,  and  our  large  Ladies'  school 
filled  up  considerable  territory  downstairs.  I  preached 
on  '  Show  us  the  Father  and  it  sufficeth  us,'  referring 
specially  to  Robert  Elsmere  and  the  general  demand  of 
outward  evidence  in  our  time  and  neglect  of  the  inward. 
In  the  evening  came  the  Workmen's  Lecture  on  John 
Bunyan.  What  a  congregation  !  Every  part  of  the  place 
full  except  the  very  back  of  the  back  gallery.  I  felt 
very  dissatisfied  with  the  lecture.  Bunyan  is  so  great 
a  character,  and  I  found  the  subject  much  too  large  for 
half  an  hour.  But  the  people  seemed  thoroughly  inter- 
ested, and  the  place  was  very  still  throughout,  which  is 
a  good  sign.  A  great  many  people  stopped  to  thank 
me,  so  there  is  hope  good  may  be  done.  I  am  told  we 
have  had  lately  a  number  of  people  who  never  go  to 
a  place  of  worship.  And  it  is  very  interesting  to  find 
that  old  Voice  Producer,  whom  you  saw  at  Newport,  a 
friend  of  Mr.  Williams  of  Wistanswick,  who  I  was  told 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  59 

was  *  a  Socialist  and  not  religious?  came  on  Thursday 
and  comes  regularly  on  Sunday. 

"  Now  as  to  other  news.  .  .  .  On  Thursday  I  went  to 
Dr.  Parker's  noon-day  service,  and  enjoyed  it  more  than 
I  have  ever  enjoyed  Dr.  Parker  before.  *  The  spiritual 
man  is  mad '  was  his  startling  text.  George  Fox  was 
mad.  To-day  the  Quakers  are  most  respectable  (mouthed 
out  in  Parker's  best  manner).  There  is  not  a  mad  Friend 
left  in  the  globe,  and  '  so  they  are  dying  out." 


To  his  Mother 

"  OXFOBD, 

"  October  23,  1888. 

"...  I  have  promised  to  lecture  to  the  Kensington 
Young  Men's  Guild  on  '  Poetry '  on  December  19.  I  am 
also  to  read  a  paper  on  Bunyan  at  the  Milton,  introduce 
a  motion  at  the  Union  on  Education,  and  speak  on 
Thursday  in  favour  of  Disestablishment.  Then  on  Sun- 
day I  preach  in  Oxford  morning  and  evening.  This  is 
a  fairly  full  programme  for  the  coming  weeks.  .  .  .  Did 
I  tell  you  I  was  going  to  preach  at  Streatham  Hill  on 
Sunday  ?  I  got  there  late  on  Saturday  evening,  and 
stayed  with  Mr.  J.  D.  They  were  wonderfully  kind 
people,  and  I  enjoyed  greatly  staying  with  them.  On 
Sunday  friends  came  from  near  and  far.  ...  I  think 
the  deacons  were  above  a  bit  amused  when  all  these  in 
stately  procession  crowded  into  the  vestry  and  fought 
over  my  body  for  afternoon  tea.  .  .  .  The  C.s  came  in 
and  conducted  me  back  to  Streatham  Hill,  where  we 
had  a  very  good  evening  service.  I  do  hope  Dr.  Fair- 
bairn  will  stick  to  his  resolution  now  not  to  let  me 
preach  again  this  term  after  next  Sunday.  He  was 
much  tempted  to  give  way  to-day  to  an  urgent  telegram 
from  Westminster  Chapel,  but  I  am  safe  so  far.  .  .  . 
All  sorts  of  friends  are  sending  me  the  Star  /" 


60  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

To  his  Mother 

"  OXFORD, 

"  November  5,  1888. 

"...  To-night  I  have  to  give  a  lecture  on  Bunyan  to 
the  Milton  Club.  Yesterday  I  had  a  delegate  to  see  me 
from  a  place  called  Winslow,  near  Bletchley.  He  wants 
me  to  give  a  lecture  there  on  behalf  of  Mansfield  at  the 
end  of  term.  As  it  may  be  got  in  before  I  go  to  Kensing- 
ton, I  shall  probably  lecture  on  Bunyan  for  them.  There 
would  naturally  be  a  week  between  the  end  of  term 
and  my  going  to  Kensington,  and  if  Fred  was  at  home 
I  should  come  straight  down.  .  .  . 

"  I  think  I  must  send  you  the  Undergraduate,  with  an 
amusing  account  of  the  Disestablishment  debate.  It  is 
rather  too  bad  of  them  to  attack  my  only  French  quota- 
tion. But  I  will  bear  it  with  fortitude. 

"  Two  more  men  have  come  from  Airedale  to  Mans- 
field. This  makes  our  number  about  twenty-five.  One 
is  a  man  named  Jowett,  who  was  reported  to  be  the  great 
preacher  of  the  North,  and  who  has  already  accepted 
an  invitation  to  succeed  Mr.  Batchelor  at  Newcastle. 
He  comes  to  us  for  one  year  only.  The  other  is  Martin 
of  St.  John's,  Cambridge,  friend  of  the  Whibleys,  who  is 
to  lodge  next  door  to  me.  Meanwhile  the  building  goes 
on  apace,  and  is  pronounced  on  all  hands  an  exquisite 
piece  of  work.  The  roof  is  now  on  nearly  all  of  it,  and 
they  have  got  most  of  the  floors  down  inside.  There  was 
a  letter  in  last  week's  Noncon.  suggesting  that  New 
College,  London,  with  all  its  endowments,  should  be 
removed  to  Oxford  and  amalgamated  with  Mansfield. 
Dr.  Fairbairn  is  very  pleased  the  proposal  has  been  made, 
and  hopes  it  will  be  earnestly  discussed. 

"  Last  night  in  our  rooms  the  Dr.  gave  his  lecture  on 
the  Person  of  Christ— I  don't  know  that  I  have  ever 
known  him  more  impressive.  One  passage  we  shall 
never  forget.  He  described  Plato  and  Christ,  the  one 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  61 

inheriting  all  the  glories  of  Greece,  intellectual,  artistic, 
and  so  on,  and  then,  in  contrast,  the  Carpenter's  Son, 
and  asked  which  was  the  most  likely  to  command  the 
cultured  and  civilized  world  of  future  ages  and  to  be 
pronounced  the  Son  of  God.  And  then,  in  a  wonderful 
conclusion,  he  said  :  '  We  believe  God  made  man,  delights 
to  bless  man.  The  greatest  blessings  come  through  Christ. 
If,  then,  God  had  more  Christs  to  give,  would  He  not 
have  given  ?  Are  we  not  forced  to  believe  that  He  gave 
but  one  because  there  was  but  one  to  give — that  as  there 
was  but  one  God  so  there  was  but  one  Son  of  God  and 
Saviour  of  Mankind.'  It  was  exceedingly  fine.  .  .  ." 


To  his  Mother 

"  OXPOHD, 

"  November  26,  1888. 

"...  I  have  just  come  away  from  seeing  the  Varsity 
play  the  Preston  North  End  team.  The  latter  won,  but 
only  by  three  to  one,  which  we  claim  as  a  '  moral  victory.' 
The  Varsity  had  distinctly  the  best  of  the  match  during 
the  second  half,  and  played  most  brilliantly.  The  Pres- 
ton men  are  a  superb  team,  but  too  '  dodgy,'  pass  too 
much — so  frequently  from  man  to  man  that  they  lose 
the  ball  just  when  they  are  getting  up  to  the  goal. 

"  I  have  had  a  very  busy  week  preparing  for  Ken- 
sington. Have  now  got  one  sermon  ready,  and  nearly 
finished  my  lecture.  Did  I  tell  you  we  are  to  have 
exams,  at  the  end  of  this  term  ?  Consequently  there 
will  be  no  time  then  to  prepare  sermons.  Prof.  Massie's 
exam,  comes  the  day  before  I  go  up  to  town.  I  am 
to  dine  at  Mrs.  M.'s  on  the  Friday  before  preaching  ! 
Mr.  White  writes  to  me  that  they  are  going  on  quite 
peaceably  and  happily,  so  I  suppose  the  choir  revolu- 
tion has  been  quietly  effected.  .  .  . 

"  At  the  Milton  Club  last  Monday  we  had  a  glorious 
debate  on  Socialism.  On  the  whole  it  was  the  best 


62  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

sustained  debate  I  have  ever  heard  at  a  University 
society.  Selbie  made  a  violent  attack  on  Democracy, 
which  drew  me  into  a  fierce  duel,  and  round  our  devoted 
figures  the  warfare  raged  vehemently.  The  Union, 
curiously  enough,  took  up  the  same  subject  on  Thursday, 
but  the  debate  there  was  not  very  lively. 

"  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  lately  of  young  Magee.  He 
is  a  very  good-hearted  fellow  and  impressable.  Talks 
infinitely :  revels  in  phrases  of  all  sorts,  and  is  often 
gloriously  inaccurate  and  inconsistent.  On  the  whole 
he  is  very  good  fun,  and  so  absolutely  good-natured  that 
one  can  talk  quite  plainly  with  him.  Cozens -Hardy 
and  he  are  great  friends.  Bishop  Boyd  Carpenter 
preached  at  the  Varsity  Church  last  night  to  a  packed 
congregation.  He  was  delightfully  unconventional  as 
usual,  but  not  so  impressive  or  striking  as  I  have  usually 
known  him  to  be. 

"  To  my  sorrow  Fairbairn  has  promised  I  shall  preach 
at  Great  George  Street,  Liverpool,  on  January  6.  I  did 
want  to  be  home  all  my  non-Kensington  Sundays  this 
time  :  but  it  cannot  be.  .  .  ." 

To  his  Father 

"  OXFORD, 

"  December  3,  1888. 

"  Leonard  has  just  left  me  and  returned  with  Wardlaw 
Thompson  to  London.  We  have  had  a  very  lively  and 
busy  time  together.  He  came  up  early  on  Saturday 
morning,  and  we  lunched  at  Cozens-Hardy's  rooms  with 
Selbie  and  Macfadyen.  Hardy,  Leonard,  and  I  then 
went  out  for  a  walk,  and  picking  Magee  up  on  the  way, 
carried  this  episcopal  light  over  Mansfield.  We  thor- 
oughly explored  the  buildings,  and  then  got  home  round 
to  Selbie's  for  tea— Bartlet  being  there  as  well.  In  the 
evening  we  went  to  hear  Professor  Stuart  speak  at  the 
Corn  Exchange.  It  was  a  glorious  speech,  on  points  in 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  68 

the  Irish  question  that  are  not  often  discussed.  The 
working-men  there  seemed  to  see  all  his  points,  he  was  so 
admirably  clear.  Mr.  Cobb,  the  member  for  the  Rugby 
Division  of  Warwickshire,  also  spoke — a  rare  old  Radical, 
who  made  the  people  shriek  with  laughter.  Cubbon 
and  Martin  came  in  to  cocoa  in  my  rooms,  and  then  we 
were  glad  to  get  to  bed.  Hardy  and  Norman  Smith 
came  in  to  breakfast,  and  then  the  latter  carried  L. 
away  to  George  Street  to  hear  Dr.  Fairbairn,  and  I 
trudged  off  to  Summertown  to  exhort  the  heathen  there. 
After  dinner  we  sallied  forth  for  a  long  walk  round 
Christ  Church  and  Magdalen,  ending  at  the  Dr.'s  after- 
noon at  home,  where  I  had  a  nice  chat  with  Wardlaw 
Thompson,  and  the  Dr.  exhorted  L.  on  many  points 
of  his  duty  to  man  and  God.  Then  Norman  Smith 
carried  us  off  to  tea  at  his  home,  where  we  met  a  certain 
Mr.  Jones  l — typical  Welsh  patriot  and  Nationalist,  who 
is  really  one  of  the  most  wonderful  men  in  Oxford. 
Leonard  was  much  impressed.  Then  off  to  Wardlaw 
Thompson's  meeting  at  our  Mansfield  Rooms,  a  good 
and  very  impressive  meeting.  Then  home  and  cocoa 
and  bed.  Not  bad  for  two  days,  was  it  ?  " 

To  his  Father 

"  OXFOBD, 

"  February  11,  1889. 

"  Oxford  moves  !  Such  '  carryings-on,'  as  Mrs.  Gamp 
would  say,  have  never  been  known  in  this  festive 
Varsity  before.  Behold  the  Oxford  Union — ancestral 
home  of  privilege  and  Toryism — pledging  itself  to  Sunday 
closing  of  Public  Houses.  Yet  this  verily  happened  on 
Thursday.  Who  should  lead  the  way  but  Magee,  and 
under  episcopal  patronage  the  rest  of  us  ventured  forth. 
Murray  2 — fellow  of  New  College — a  grand  man  in  every 
way,  seconded ;  Roberts  of  Balliol,  logical,  radical,  a  bit 
of  a  sceptic  and  pronounced  anti-Sabbatarian,  follows, 

1  The  late  Wm.  Jones,  M.P.  a  Professor  Gilbert  Murray. 


64  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

and  then  thy  servant.  The  result  was  31-31,  and  the 
Chairman  votes  for  us.  All  Oxford  is  talking  about  the 
Vandalism  of  the  Union. 

Not  a  sound  was  heard,  not  a  funeral  note, 
As  the  corpse  of  old  Privilege  was  buried, 

Not  a  Tory  discharged  a  farewell  shot, 
But  they  went  away  horribly  flurried. 

And  on  Thursday  I  am  going  to  move  that  all  Education 
should  be  National  and  Unsectarian.  There  will  be 
infinite  row.  If  you  have  still  got  Dr.  Crosskey's 
pamphlet  you  might  send  it. 

"  I  went  up  to  London  on  Saturday  to  preach  for  Mr. 
Rowland.  I  was  safely  deposited  at  Mr.  Bedells'.  The 
Bedells  are  wonderfully  nice  people,  full  of  work  and  zeal, 
and  throwing  energy  into  all  sorts  of  good  movements. 
There  were  some  Australian  people  passing  the  evening 
with  them,  Knotts  by  name,  from  Sydney.  Mr.  Knott  is 
one  of  the  great  Sydney  Congregationalists.  On  Sunday 
morning  we  had  an  enormous  congregation.  As  Horton 
and  Gibbon  were  both  away  in  the  morning,  I  profited, 
and  certainly  think  it  was  the  largest  audience  I  have 
ever  had. 


To  his  Father 


"  OXFORD, 

"March  3,  1889. 


"  I  have  been  expecting  to  hear  all  about  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  new  paper,  but  expect  you  have  all  been 
too  busy  to  write.  I  think  the  first  number  augurs  well. 
It  seems  to  me  more  interesting  than  the  old.  .  .  .  But 
there  is  so  much  to  tell  you  about  this  week  that  I  will 
launch  forth  at  once.  Our  Church  Meeting  last  Monday 
night  was  a  splendid  success.  The  tea  began  at  6.30, 
and  of  course  I  stood  the  usual  siege  of  kind  friends. 
All  seemed  to  be  in  the  best  of  spirits  and  full  of  hope 
and  enthusiasm.  At  7.30  we  threw  open  the  folding 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  65 

doors  between  the  two  schoolrooms,  and  the  people 
streamed  in.  The  platform  was  a  perfect  bower  of 
splendid  flowers  and  shrubs,  and  the  whole  decorations 
were  very  effective.  Mr.  White,  back  from  Mill  Hill, 
was  full  of  life  and  grace.  First  came  a  speech  by  Mr. 
Spicer  as  to  Mr.  White's  kindness  in  working  there 
for  the  past  year.  I  had  no  idea  Mr.  Spicer  could  speak 
so  well.  Mr.  Holborn  followed  with  the  financial 
report.  The  amount  raised  was  about  £3,560,  some- 
what less  than  last  year,  but  interregnums  do  not  prosper. 
Over  £800  was  for  the  Missionary  Society  and  over 
£400  for  the  Church  Aid.  Mr.  White  appealed  for  more 
systematic  giving  by  all.  He  said  he  had  made  a  dis- 
covery that  a  penny  a  day  came  to  £l  105.  5d.,  and 
he  thought  this  sum  should  be  put  on  the  back  of  our 
pennies  instead  of  the  figure  of  a  half-naked  being 
sitting  on  a  wet  rock  holding  a  pitchfork.  Mr.  Budgen 
and  Mr.  Hubbard  made  very  lively  and  interesting 
speeches,  and  then  I  wound  up  with  a  pronouncedly  pro- 
gressive speech.  I  scored  off  the  Upper  Clapton  people 
and  their  gown  by  telling  the  story  and  adding  that  they 
seemed  to  think  it  would  be  a  security  against  youthful 
heresies  to  envelop  a  man  in  a  robe  which  had  been  simply 
saturated  with  orthodox  theological  sentiment  for  almost 
forty  years.  This  amused  Mr.  White  tremendously.  An 
addition  in  the  form  of  a  hope  that  they  would  be  content 
to  see  more  of  me  and  less  of  the  gown  was  applauded 
vociferously. 

"  The  next  important  event  was  a  visit  by  Professor 
Elmslie.  He  came  with  Dr.  Monro  Gibson  and  others 
to  interview  Fairbairn  on  the  subject  of  a  Presbyterian 
College  at  Cambridge.  He  stayed  over  Friday  night 
and  spoke  at  our  seminar.  He  was  simply  glorious.  I 
can't  tell  you  what  an  impression  his  calm,  manly, 
courageous  statement  of  the  new  position  arrived  at  by 
Old  Testament  critics  made  on  us.  He  just  showed  us 
how  many  real  beauties  of  interpretation  the  old  idea 
5 


66  OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON 

missed.  He  said  a  wonderful  thing  in  speaking  of  the 
horrors  recounted  in  the  Old  Testament  as  done  at  the 
bidding  of  Jehovah.  God  had  to  take  men  as  they  were. 
There  was  no  use  in  sending  down  Revelation  '  in  lumps ' 
—He  had  to  work  it  all  out  from  within  and  through 
human  means.  He  had  thus  to  work  often  in  and 
through  very  imperfect  men  '  and  run  the  risk  of 
compromising  Himself.'  He  had  *  to  be  numbered  with 
the  transgressors?  Then  followed  a  wonderful  illustration. 
*  You  may  be  all  Tories,'  said  Elmslie,  and  we  laughed 
aloud.  Well,  supposing  Mr.  Parnell  had  seen  that 
the  party  of  outrage  and  violence  would  only  be  driven 
to  be  more  violent  by  fierce  attack  and  had  mingled 
with  them  and  *  run  the  risk  of  compromising  himself ' 
that  he  might  lift  them  by  degrees  to  nobler  aims  and 
loftier  methods — supposing  history  to  reveal  that  this 
has  been  so,  then  that  would  be  something  like  it  !  It 
was  in  the  Dr.'s  study,  but  we  brought  the  house  down. 

"  The  New  York  Herald  wrote  the  other  day  pressing 
me  to  send  them  the  outline  of  a  recent  sermon.  I 
don't  know  whether  it  was  the  right  thing  to  do,  but 
I  have  sent  one,  and  suppose  it  will  appear  soon. 

'  The  Oxford  men  have  been  acting  Julius  Ccesar. 
Alma  Tadema  designed  the  scenery,  and  the  Roman 
dresses  have  been  carefully  studied.  I  went  with 
Cubbon  last  night.  It  is  very  pretty,  but  much  too 
long,  and  the  acting  is  of  course  very  '  amateur.' 
It  was  interesting  to  hear  my  old  favourites  '  Mark 
Antony's  speech '  and  the  '  Brutus  and  Cassius  '  scene 
suggestive  of  '  breakings-up  '  and  Mutual  Improvement 
Societies.  ..." 

Of  his  various  teachers  at  Oxford  the  two  men  to 
whom  Home  owed  most  were  Dr.  Fairbairn  and  Dr. 
Hatch.  For  Fairbairn  he  had  a  boundless  admiration, 
and  was  particularly  attracted  by  the  freshness  of  his 
Christian  apologetic  on  the  one  hand  and  of  his  treatment 


OXFORD    AND    KENSINGTON  67 

of  the  Person  of  Christ  on  the  other.  But  he  was  equally 
sure  of  his  debt  to  Hatch,  whose  lectures  on  early 
Christian  history  and  on  the  growth  of  church  institu- 
tions were  to  him  as  to  others  an  almost  epoch-making 
experience. 

Before  Home  settled  down  at  Kensington  Dr. 
Fairbairn  arranged  for  him  to  travel  round  the  world  as 
companion  to  a  young  friend  of  his,  Mr.  Gerald  Willans, 
of  Leeds.  He  brought  back  from  it  a  store  of  health 
and  of  new  experiences  which  stood  him  in  good  stead 
at  the  beginning  of  his  life's  work. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   MINISTRY   AT   KENSINGTON 

HORNE  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  at  Kensington  on 
October  17,  1889.  The  Rev.  Edward  White  presided 
at  a  crowded  and  impressive  service  which  followed 
the  course  usual  in  Congregational  churches.  A 
statement  on  behalf  of  the  church  was  made  by  one  of 
the  deacons,  Mr.  Sully.  The  new  minister  then  took 
up  his  parable,  described  the  steps  by  which  he  had 
reached  that  position,  and  made  a  declaration  of  his 
faith.  He  claimed  a  young  man's  privilege  to  reserve 
judgment  on  some  things,  and  he  refused  to  believe  that 
the  realities  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  could  be  reduced  to  a 
set  of  propositions  and  definitions.  "  To  him  the  divinity 
of  Christ  determined  all  his  knowledge  of  God  and  his 
hopes  for  man.  Take  Christ  and  His  Gospel  from  the 
world,  and  what  could  they  know  of  God."  "  So  His 
divinity  determined  His  atonement.  Alike  its  efficacy 
and  its  justification  depended  on  the  fact  that  it  was  God 
Himself  who  toiled  and  agonized  for  men,  that  divine 
love  suffered  with  them  in  all  their  struggles  and  shared 
all  thek  burdens."  He  believed  it  was  their  most  solemn 
duty  to  bring  the  faith  and  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  to  bear 
upon  every  phase  of  their  national  life,  to  apply  it 
fearlessly  and  relentlessly  in  insisting  on  the  necessity 
for  righteousness.  The  charge  to  the  minister  was  de- 
livered by  Dr.  Fairbairn,  who  spoke  in  his  usual  graphic 
and  ample  way  of  the  high  solemnity  of  the  ministerial 
calling  and  of  the  great  qualities  of  mind  and  spirit 
needed  for  its  effectual  fulfilment.  The  ordination 

68 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         69 

prayer  was  offered  by  Dr.  R.  F.  Horton,  and  the  service 
closed  with  the  blessing  invoked  on  minister  and  people 
by  the  Venerable  Dr.  Stoughton.  On  the  following  Sun- 
day morning  Dr.  Dale  gave  the  charge  to  the  congregation 
and  "  preached  the  minister  in."  It  was  a  noble  and 
eloquent  discourse  on  "  the  congregation  helping  the 
minister,"  from  the  text  2  Cor.  i.  11  :  "  Ye  also  helping 
together  on  our  behalf  by  your  supplication  :  that  for  the 
gift  bestowed  upon  us  by  means  of  many  thanks  may 
be  given  by  many  persons  on  our  behalf."  l  Home 
preached  in  the  evening — his  first  sermon  as  minister  of 
the  church.  Thus  began  a  most  fruitful  and  memorable 
ministry.  As  has  been  indicated,  it  was  in  many  ways 
a  great  experiment,  but  there  was  never  any  real  doubt 
as  to  its  success.  It  is  probably  a  defect  of  the 
Congregational  church  system  that  a  young  man  should 
be  pitchforked  into  the  full  responsibility  for  a  large 
church  straight  from  college  and  without  any  previous 
experience  as  a  curate  or  assistant.  That  it  was  success- 
ful in  this  case  speaks  volumes  for  the  quality  both  of 
the  man  and  of  the  church,  and  especially  for  the  wisdom 
and  loyalty  of  the  deacons.  Home  was  fortunate  in 
his  advisers.  He  had  the  gift  of  attracting  and  keeping 
the  willing  service  of  men  and  women  much  older  than 
himself.  This  was  the  more  marked  because  his  work 
at  Kensington  was  particularly  successful  among  the 
young.  The  evening  services  on  Sundays  were  thronged 
with  young  folk  of  both  sexes  from  the  great  business 
houses  in  the  neighbourhood.  Home  laid  himself  out 
to  help  them,  not  only  by  his  preaching,  but  in  more 
direct  and  practical  ways.  He  started  guilds  both  for 
young  men  and  women,  which  did  excellent  educational 
and  social  work  for  their  members.  For  more  directly 
religious  purposes  a  Young  Members  Union  was  formed, 
by  means  of  which  workers  were  trained  for  the  Sunday 
school  and  for  the  Olaf  Street  Mission  which  Home  had 

1  The  sermon  is  published  in  the  volume  Fellowship  with  Chrift. 


70         THE   MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON 

founded.  For  this  work  he  held  regular  preparation 
classes,  and  it  proved  a  most  fruitful  agency  for  service, 
besides  building  up  many  young  men  and  women  in  the 
Christian  faith.  Another  very  useful  scheme  which 
Home  set  on  foot  was  the  Children's  Guild.  He  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  among  the  children.  From  the 
first  he  made  a  practice  of  giving  a  short  children's 
address  in  the  morning  service.  Of  these  addresses  the 
older  children  were  encouraged  to  take  notes,  and  once 
a  quarter  the  minister  met  all  the  children  of  the 
congregation,  talked  over  their  notes  with  them,  and 
then  joined  them  in  tea  and  games.  The  children  were 
also  taught  to  work  for  the  poorer  children  of  the  church 
missions,  and  to  provide  help  and  entertainment  for 
them  in  various  ways.  As  time  went  on,  the  relations 
between  minister  and  children  became  of  the  closest 
and  most  affectionate  kind,  and  no  words  can  tell  the 
good  that  was  thus  accomplished.  It  may  be  noted 
that  the  first  secretary  of  the  guild  was  Miss  Katharine 
Cozens-Hardy — the  minister's  future  wife. 

From  the  first  Home  put  all  his  strength  into  his 
preaching.  The  Sunday  congregations  grew  rapidly, 
and  he  felt  keenly  the  responsibility  which  this  involved. 
In  the  mornings  his  preaching  was  of  a  more  pastoral 
kind  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  regular  attendants  at 
the  church.  In  the  evenings,  when  the  congregation 
was  larger  and  more  mixed,  and  contained  a  large 
proportion  of  young  people,  he  was  accustomed  to 
give  courses  of  lectures  on  evangelistic  and  apologetic 
topics,  many  of  which  found  their  way  into  print. 
His  frank  open-mindedness,  his  earnest  manner,  and  the 
persuasiveness  of  his  speech  made  these  evening  dis- 
courses very  attractive  and  effective  in  winning  many 
thoughtful  young  men  and  women  to  a  fuller  Christian 
consecration. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  work  in  Kensington  Dr. 
Fairbairn,  with  his  usual  fatherly  consideration  for  his 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         71 

students,  wrote  to  Home  advising  him  strongly  to 
concentrate  on  the  work  of  his  church,  and  to  decline 
to  be  drawn  hither  and  thither  by  outside  engagements. 
Home  was  willing  enough  to  take  this  advice.  He 
acknowledged  its  wisdom,  and  honestly  tried  to  carry  it 
out.  But  circumstances  were  too  strong  for  him.  The 
church  was,  indeed,  always  his  first  consideration,  and 
he  gave  it  of  his  best.  But  he  was  constitutionally 
incapable  of  limiting  his  witness  to  a  single  channel,  and 
his  eager  enthusiasm  found  vent  for  itself  in  the  care 
of  all  the  churches,  in  an  aggressive  evangelism,  and  a 
persistent  Free  Church  propaganda.  Even  at  this  early 
stage  in  his  career  he  had  not  a  few  warnings  to  the  effect 
that  his  physical  powers  were  limited.  But  his  brave 
spirit  was  impatient  of  bodily  restraints,  and  although 
he  was  willing  to  take  all  reasonable  precautions,  he  could 
not  spare  himself  when  there  was  a  real  call  for  service. 
He  settled  in  London  at  a  time  when  there  was  great  need 
for  the  kind  of  witness  that  he  was  best  able  to  give. 
The  fervour  and  freshness  of  his  preaching  and  his 
passionate  advocacy  of  Free  Church  principles  made  him 
a  welcome  guest  at  anniversaries  and  other  special 
occasions,  and  he  found  it  very  hard  to  resist  calls  for 
help,  particularly  from  those  churches  in  country  places 
where  his  testimony  was  most  needed,  and  which  he  was 
always  ready  to  help  without  fee  or  reward.  His  diary 
and  letters  give  abundant  evidence  of  the  zest  and 
buoyancy  with  which  he  threw  himself  into  work  of 
this  kind,  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  no  man  was 
ever  better  fitted  for  it.  From  his  Oxford  days  onwards 
Home  kept  an  intermittent  diary,  in  which  he  recorded 
with  some  intimacy  his  impressions  of  events  and 
persons.  There  are  many  tantalizing  gaps  in  it,  but  it 
enables  us  to  see  something  of  his  inner  mind,  and, 
along  with  his  letters,  which  are  often  very  frank  and 
revealing,  affords  a  real  key  to  his  development. 
In  the  spring  of  1891  Home  made  his  first  appearance 


72         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

in  connection  with  official  Congregationalism  by  reading 
the  Chairman's  address  for  his  friend  and  deacon  Thomas 
Walker  to  the  London  Congregational  Union.  Mr. 
Walker  had  a  very  weak  voice,  and  his  minister  was  glad 
to  be  the  mouthpiece  of  one  to  whom  he  owed  much, 
and  whom  he  greatly  admired  and  loved.  He  writes  : 
"  The  reading  of  Mr.  Walker's  address  was  a  great 
pleasure  to  me,  and  it  was  received  with  the  enthusiasm 
the  address  deserved.  Mr.  Walker  prefaced  it  by  saying 
that  the  audience  might  take  it  that  all  that  was  good 
in  the  address  was  due  to  my  influence !  The  fact  is,  that 
if  I  share  the  views  of  the  address,  I  have  derived  them 
from  his  influence."  The  debt  that  he  thus  acknow- 
ledges to  Mr.  Walker  was  a  very  real  one.  The  old 
man  put  all  his  wealth  of  experience  at  the  service  of  his 
young  minister,  and  supported  him  in  his  work  with  the 
utmost  loyalty  and  goodwill.  From  the  older  ministers 
of  the  denomination  in  London  Home  received  the 
greatest  kindness  and  sympathy.  Early  in  his  time 
at  Kensington  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  "  Frater- 
nal " — a  company  of  ministers  who  met  for  breakfast, 
followed  by  religious  discussion,  once  a  month.  Among 
the  members  when  he  joined  it  were  Joshua  Harrison, 
Edward  White,  Newman  Hall,  Andrew  Reed,  William 
Roberts,  Monro  Gibson,  F.  B.  Meyer,  R.  M.  Thornton, 
Robert  Dawson,  G.  D.  Macgregor,  Colmer  Symes,  and 
R.  F.  Horton.  He  writes  of  it :  "I  don't  believe  there 
is  a  franker  and  freer  discussion  of  theological  problems 
possible  anywhere.  We  are  now  discussing  Genesis,  and 
it  is  marvellously  interesting  owing  to  the  wide  divergence 
of  views.  Horton  and  I  are  practically  alone  in  defence 
of  the  very  modern  criticism,  but  we  are  all  at  one  in 
our  estimate  of  the  spiritual  truths  of  the  revelation." 
Among  the  younger  men  in  the  London  churches  Home 
at  once  took  the  lead.  Like  many  others  of  them,  he 
was  conscious  of  a  certain  dullness  and  stagnation  in  the 
religious  life  and  activities  of  the  Congregational  churches. 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         73 

A  generation  of  great  preachers  was  just  passing  away, 
and  had  left  behind  it  a  feeling  of  intellectual  pride 
and  self-satisfaction  that  did  not  make  either  for  spiritual 
depth  or  theological  progress.  Nor  were  the  churches 
making  any  great  advance  in  social  service  or  missionary 
and  evangelistic  effort.  Home  was  nothing  if  not 
progressive,  and  soon  gathered  round  him  a  band  of 
younger  men  like-minded.  In  conjunction  with  the 
Rev.  T.  H.  Darlow,  he  called  a  number  of  them  together 
at  the  May  meetings  of  1891.  "  There  is  undoubtedly 
a  new  spirit  abroad,"  he  wrote.  "  The  times  demand 
not  only  a  new  construction  of  thought,  but  a  new  con- 
struction of  method.  Indeed,  the  latter  is  the  corollary 
of  the  former.  If  the  older  men  will  not  recognize  the 
present  crisis,  we  must  do  what  we  can  to  save  Congre- 
gationalism from  those  who  would  destroy  its  true 
flexibility."  The  meeting  was  a  great  success.  It  met 
a  felt  need.  Adjourned  to  the  autumn  meetings  of  the 
union  at  Southport,  it  led  eventually  to  a  permanent 
association  of  some  of  the  younger  London  ministers 
for  the  ends  they  had  in  view.  Of  this  more  in  its 
place.  In  Home's  opinion  it  was  "  the  beginning  of 
a  great  new  movement  for  the  vitalizing  of  our  de- 
nomination." 

That  process  had  already  been  stimulated  by  the 
meetings  of  the  first  International  Congregational 
Council,  which  were  held  in  London  in  the  summer  of 
1891,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  Dale.  Home  attended 
these,  and  wrote  his  impressions  of  them  to  more  than 
one  newspaper.  He  welcomed  the  wider  outlook  and 
keener  social  consciousness  of  some  of  the  American 
and  Imperial  delegates,  but  he  noted  that  the  British 
churches  easily  held  their  own  in  spiritual  intensity  and 
theological  breadth.  About  the  same  time  he  wrote 
a  series  of  articles  in  the  Independent  under  the  title 
"  What  the  Churches  ought  to  do,"  in  which  he  pleaded 
eloquently  for  a  greater  elasticity  of  method,  a  more 


74         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

practical  application  of  Christianity  to  life,  and  a  drastic 
reform  in  worship.     He  concluded  — 

"  It  is  the  new  temper  and  the  new  spirit  that  we 
want.  It  is  the  spirit  that  rejoices  in  the  introduction 
into  our  services  of  any  and  every  element  that  is  truly 
living.  It  is  the  crucifixion  of  that  contemptible  spirit 
that  sits  glum  and  defiant— a  caricature  of  Protestantism 
—if  prayer  is  offered  in  a  way  that  differs  from  the 
custom  of  our  forefathers.  It  is  the  spirit  that  is  ever 
supremely  solicitous  for  the  reaching  and  saving  of  the 
unreached  and  unsaved.  It  is  not  the  spirit  that  thinks 
the  church  exists  that  a  certain  number  of  regular  and 
respectable  seat-holders  may  save  their  souls.  It  is  the 
spirit  that  recognizes  that  the  church  exists  to  save  the 
souls  of  others.  Our  churches  will  move  forward  when 
this  sovereign  principle  of  their  responsibility  to  those 
without  is  thoroughly  understood  and  illustrated,  when 
all  thought  of  self  and  personal  prejudice  and  preference 
melts  away  before  the  holy  fire  of  a  passionate  love  for 
those  that  are  lost.  As  this  is  realized,  there  will  indeed 
be  a  *  Forward  Movement,'  and  not  till  then." 

These  words  were  really  prophetic.  The  meetings 
of  the  Congregational  Union  held  at  Southport  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year  proved  a  landmark  in  the  spiritual 
history  of  the  churches  there  represented.  They  marked 
a  real  step  forward  in  missionary  service,  and  a  renewal 
of  interest  in  Christian  union  and  in  evangelistic  work. 
Home's  part  in  them  was  confined  to  a  rousing  address 
on  Free  Church  principles,  which  showed  him  to  be  a 
platform  speaker  of  the  first  quality,  and  revealed  him 
to  many  as  a  new  power  in  Congregationalism.  The 
result  of  the  meetings  as  a  whole  was  a  great  encourage- 
ment to  the  younger  men,  and  determined  them  in  the 
new  course  to  which  they  were  already  pledged.  Very 
much  that  has  happened  in  the  Congregational  churches 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         75 

since  that  time  may  be  dated  from  the  new  impulse 
then  given.     Home  wrote  of  the  meetings  : — 

"  October  21. — The  Congregational  Union  has  met 
at  Southport,  and  I  have  made  my  first  speech  before  it. 
The  Cambridge  Hall  was  crammed  from  floor  to  ceiling. 
It  was  an  awful  time.  I  trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf 
until  I  really  began  to  speak.  Then  the  power  came. 
The  Independent  says  my  speech  took  the  assembly  by 
storm.  But  gush  is  not  Gospel.  However,  the  audience 
was  most  kind,  and  the  result  is  encouraging.  Still, 
somehow  I  do  not  fancy  that  platform  speaking  is  much 
in  my  line.  But  the  future  will  show.  The  great  event 
of  the  Southport  meetings  was  the  election  of  Dr. 
Mackennal  unanimously,  and  with  splendid  enthusiasm, 
as  secretary.  ...  So  ended  a  memorable  battle. 
Another  remarkable  feature  of  the  Union  session  was 
the  missionary  enthusiasm.  This  is  almost  new  in  the 
Congregational  Union.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  a  product 
of  the  new  proposal  to  send  out  100  more  missionaries. 
Although  the  L.M.S.  is  in  debt,  the  proposal  has  awakened 
already  a  remarkable  response.  Lavington  Hart,  science 
fellow  of  St.  John's,  Cambridge,  and  his  brother  have 
offered  themselves  for  service  and  been  accepted.  All 
this  contributed  to  create  the  sense  of  hope  and  prayer 
that  marked  the  great  assembly  of  the  Wednesday." 

In  August,  1892,  Home  married.  His  bride  was  Miss 
Katharine  M.  Cozens-Hardy,  elder  daughter  of  Mr. 
Herbert  Cozens-Hardy,  K.C.,1  one  of  his  most  loyal 
supporters  at  Allen  Street.  The  occasion  of  the  wedding 
was  made  something  like  a  family  festival  by  the  whole 
church,  and  the  young  couple  began  their  new  life 
together  amid  the  most  cordial  demonstrations  of 
affection  and  regard.  Their  first  home  was  at  Campden 
Hill  Gardens,  and  it  speedily  became  a  most  attractive 
centre  of  happy  fellowship  for  a  wide  circle  of  friends. 

1  Afterwards  Lord  Cozens-Hardy  of  Letheringsett. 


76         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

In  the  course  of  time  seven  children  were  born,  and  as  the 
family  grew  up  its  father  seemed  to  remain  the  youngest 
member  of  it.  Home  was  never  so  happy  as  when  with 
his  children.  He  made  himself  one  with  them,  and  was 
never  too  busy  to  take  the  keenest  interest  in  their  work 

and  play. 

In  the  autumn  of  1892  a  serious  difficulty  arose  in 
Allen  Street  Church  over  the  proposal  to  elect  to  the 
diaconate  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Home 
was  much  disturbed  over  it,  because  some  of  his  best 
friends  in  the  church  took  a  very  different  view  from  his 
own.  The  following  is  his  own  account  of  the  matter  : — 

"  We  have  been  suddenly  precipitated  as  a  Church 
into  one  of  the  most  curious  and  at  the  same  time  serious 
crises  that  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  The  history  of 
Congregationalism  is  no  doubt  often  chequered,  but  the 
chapter  that  could  be  written  concerning  our  experiences 
of  last  week  would  be  a  most  remarkable  one.  To  me 
it  has  been  a  most  painful  incident,  and  the  difficulty 
is  by  no  means  settled.  Let  me  set  down  the  facts. 
Last  Thursday  we  held  a  special  Church  meeting  for  the 
nomination  of  our  new  deacons.  The  meeting  was  most 
harmonious  and  encouraging.  Someone  at  the  back — a 
Mr. . . . — nominated  Mr.  Gibb.1  I  explained  to  the  meeting 
that  Mr.  Gibb  was  a  Quaker,  and  not  being  a  member 
was  ineligible,  to  my  deep  regret.  The  incident  had 
passed  when  one  of  the  deacons  .  .  .  rose  and  proposed 
that  Mr.  Gibb  should  be  sounded  as  to  his  willingness 
to  join  us  and  serve  us  in  this  capacity.  He  pointed  out 
that  the  sole  basis  of  our  Church  was  faith  in  Christ,  and 
that  we  had  no  authority  to  require  any  doctrine  of  the 
Sacraments.  The  Church  generally  signified  its  approval : 
none  of  the  other  deacons  said  a  word,  and  I  undertook 
to  approach  Mr.  Gibb  and  ascertain  what  his  feelings 
were.  But  at  the  conclusion  of  the  meeting  Mr.  .  .  . 

1  The  late  Mr.  James  Qibb,  M.P.  for  Harrow  at  one  time. 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         77 

came  to  me  and  said  that  if  Mr.  Gibb  was  to  offer  himself 
to  the  diaconate  and  be  elected,  holding  views  hostile 
to  the  Communion,  he  must  resign  his  office  as  deacon. 
Other  deacons  felt  equally  strongly.  The  next  day  I 
received  a  most  painful  letter  from  Mr.  .  .  .  While  full 
of  kindly  references  to  myself,  he  deplored  the  action 
of  the  Church,  and  wrote  in  the  most  touching  way  of 
the  horror  with  which  he  personally  viewed  a  proposal 
to  have  a  body  of  non-communicating  members  in  the 
Church.  The  situation  grew  further  strained  by  a 
vehement  letter  from  Mr.  .  .  .  standing  boldly  by  his 
position  and  asserting  that  if  this  Church  is  free  to  admit 
those  who  may  regard  the  Communion  superstitiously, 
and  yet  is  not  free  to  admit  those  who  emphasize  only 
its  spiritual  significance,  he  must  reconsider  his  position 
as  an  officer  of  the  Church.  Was  ever  a  young  pastor 
so  distracted  ?  That  here  in  this  nineteenth  century  a 
Congregational  Church  should  be  in  danger  of  splitting 
through  sacramental  theories — this  is  surely  a  most 
serious  thing.  The  question  may  have  been  prematurely 
raised,  but  after  all,  it  is  a  question  that  must  be  faced. 
What  is  the  constitution  of  a  Congregational  Church  ? 
Is  it,  as  I  have  declared  it  to  be  again  and  again,  accept- 
ance of  Christ  as  Saviour  and  His  commands  as  our  law 
of  life  ?  If  so,  must  we  go  on  and  define  His  commands, 
especially  on  such  a  disputable  point  as  the  Com- 
munion ?  Have  we  warrant  so  to  limit  the  basis  ?  My 
reason  says  No.  On  the  other  hand,  my  feelings  incline 
me  to  lay  stress  on  the  ancient  usages  and  practices  of 
the  people  called  '  Independents.'  And  it  is  a  delicate 
question  how  far  our  modern  spirit  of  perfect  catholicity 
may  be  allowed  to  invade  the  sanctity  of  these  estab- 
lished customs  of  the  Church.  So  the  matter  stands, 
pending  Mr.  .  .  .'s  reply  to  my  letter  approaching  him 
on  the  subject.  And  until  this  letter  is  received,  one 
can  hardly  hazard  a  guess  as  to  what  the  issue  of  the 
whole  business  is  likely  to  be.  ... 


78         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

"  Dr.  Dale  wrote  me  a  very  long  and  interesting  letter, 
which  I  was  enabled  to  lay  before  the  principal  people 
concerned,  and  the  result  has  been  a  certain  postponement 
if  not  settlement  of  the  difficulty.  Mr.  .  .  .  declined 
to  stand,  and  so  we  have  elected  our  new  deacons  without 
including  his  name.  Still  one  feels  the  difficulty  may 
reappear  at  any  moment." 

1893  was  a  very  busy  year.  It  saw  the  publication  of 
a  Manual  of  Church  Fellowship  which  Home  wrote 
in  collaboration  with  the  Rev.  William  Pierce,  then 
minister  of  Tollington  Park  Church.  It  was  intended 
mainly  for  the  young  people  of  the  Baptist  and  Congre- 
gational churches,  and  as  it  supplied  a  felt  want,  was  for 
a  time  widely  used  in  both  denominations.  Home 
wrote  of  it  in  his  diary  : — 

"  Such  a  book  is  greatly  needed.  It  aims  at  expressing 
in  a  concise  form  the  leading  points  that  should  be  borne 
in  mind  by  those  desirous  of  joining  a  Congregational 
Church.  As  we  intend  it  for  use  in  both  Baptist  and 
Congregational  Churches,  we  are  stating  the  principles 
of  both  denominations  in  the  Appendix.  To  my  lot  it 
fell  to  define  the  principles  of  the  Baptists.  I  visited 
Dr.  Clifford,  but  could  not  get  from  him  any  manual  that 
contained  a  statement  of  their  view  of  Baptism.  I  wrote 
to  Dr.  Angus,  but  received  nothing  more  definite  from 
him.  My  own  Baptist  deacons  did  not  agree  concerning 
it.  Some  thought  it  was  an  admission  into  the  Church  ; 
some  that  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Church,  but 
was  simply  an  individual  act.  So  I  am  left  to  try  and 
make  some  principles  for  this  degenerate  denomination." 

The  same  year  was  marked  by  the  celebration  in 
London  and  throughout  the  country  of  the  tercentenary 
of  the  Congregational  martyrs,  Barrowe,  Greenwood,  and 
Penry.  Into  this  function  Home  threw  himself  heart 
and  soul.  It  was  a  welcome  opportunity  of  appealing 


THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON         79 

to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  younger  men  and  women  of  the 
Free  Churches,  and  to  that  strain  of  heroism  in  them 
which  he  believed  always  existed  and  only  needed  the 
occasion  to  bring  it  forth.  The  celebration  was  inau- 
gurated by  a  great  public  demonstration  in  Hyde  Park, 
which  was  followed  up  by  meetings  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  At  many  of  these  Home  spoke.  His  theme 
was  always  the  same.  He  took  his  hearers  back  to 
"  the  hole  of  the  pit  from  which  they  were  digged,"  and 
tried  to  show  them  the  eternal  worth  and  power  of  the 
faith  and  enthusiasm  which  distinguished  the  early 
Congregationalists.  His  own  spirit  kindled  at  the  story 
he  had  to  tell,  and  he  could  hardly  fail  to  inspire  others. 
He  spread  the  light,  too,  with  the  pen  as  well  as  by  the 
spoken  word.  A  number  of  pamphlets  were  written  on 
the  early  history  of  the  Separatists,  and  Home  was 
responsible  for  one  on  "  The  Separatists  at  the  Univer- 
sities." It  was  a  simple  and  straightforward  account 
of  the  work  of  men  like  Barrowe  and  Greenwood,  with  a 
view  to  showing  that  the  early  Congregationalists  were 
not  "  unlearned  and  ignorant  men,"  but  abreast  of  the 
best  thought  of  the  time,  and  confirmed  in  the  position 
they  took  up  by  their  own  independent  and  scholarly 
reading  of  the  New  Testament.  This  tract,  along  with 
others,  had  a  very  large  circulation,  and  did  not  a  little 
to  educate  young  Free  Churchmen  in  their  own  history. 
Perhaps  for  this  reason  it  was  savagely  attacked  in  the 
Church  Times,  and  along  with  another  by  Dr.  Adeney  on 
'*  The  Church  in  the  Prisons,"  held  up  to  scorn  as  an 
ignorant,  partizan,  and  presumptuous  reading  of  history. 
Home  defended  himself  with  vigour,  and  with  the  help 
of  Dr.  Adeney,  very  successfully  vindicated  their  position. 
No  impartial  witness  could  doubt  that  the  Church  Times 
had  the  worst  of  the  encounter.  Home  made  no  pre- 
tence to  be  an  exact  scholar,  but  he  had  the  knowledge 
which  enabled  him  to  use  the  work  of  others  intelligently, 
and  the  literary  skill  to  give  a  true  picture  of  events  and 


80         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

persons  in  a  readable  and  popular  way.  At  any  rate, 
his  attempt  in  this  direction  bore  excellent  fruit  in 
interesting  him  in  the  subject  and  in  preparing  the  way 
for  his  admirable  Popular  History  of  the  Free  Churches, 
of  which  more  in  its  place.  In  connection  with  the 
tercentenary  Home  wrote  an  open  letter  : — 

"  To  the  Young  Men  of  the  London  Congregational 
Churches 

"  MY  BROTHERS, 

"  I  am  moved  to  write  you  a  simple  message 
partly  because,  as  the  Apostle  John  said, '  you  are  strong, 
and  the  Word  of  God  abideth  in  you,'  and  partly  because 
the  blood  of  the  Martyrs  of  our  Churches  is  in  your 
veins  ;  and  I  believe  the  faith  of  the  Martyrs  is  in  your 
hearts. 

"  You  are  strong  ;  and  yet  I  hardly  think  you  know 
how  strong  you  are.  '  If  it  die,'  said  Christ  of  the  grain 
of  wheat,  '  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit.'  Fruitfulness 
depends  not  simply  on  strength  of  life,  but  on  willingness 
to  sacrifice  life,  to  give  it  up,  yea  even,  if  God  will,  to  the 
death,  for  the  sake  of  the  world.  The  blood  of  the  Mar- 
tyrs is  the  seed  of  the  Church.  Truth  lives  as  men  are 
ready  to  live  and  die  for  truth.  You  are  strong,  zealous, 
faithful  to-day  ;  but  the  last  evidence  of  faithfulness  is 
being  demanded  of  us  all.  '  Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may 
die  with  Him.' 

"  No  spectator  who  saw  Barrowe  and  Greenwood  led 
out  to  die,  in  the  grey  of  that  April  morning  in  1593, 
and  heard  them  pray  for  their  enemies  at  the  foot  of  the 
gallows-tree,  could  ever  believe  again  that  Christianity 
was  played  out.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  them  the 
victory.  The  best  way  for  us  to-day  to  silence  His 
critics  is  not  to  argue  about  the  question,  but  to  do 
what  these  Martyrs  did— suffer  for  Him  and  His  truth. 
They  died  for  the  supreme  authority  of  Christ  in  His 
Church,  and  for  the  great  Brotherhood  of  Christian 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         81 

people.  Our  witness  to-day  is  to  the  same  truths. 
Christ  is  King,  and  all  we  are  brethren. 

"  Many  of  you  are  'strong  '  in  the  sense  that  you  have 
had  a  superior  education  ;  you  have  read  history,  and 
science,  and  literature  ;  your  tastes  are  cultured,  refined  ; 
and  you  enjoy  retirement  and  the  quiet  of  the  fireside, 
and  improving  your  own  minds.  But  there  are  greater 
claims  on  you  than  these.  Barrowe,  Greenwood,  and 
Penry  were  all  University  men,  full  of  refinement,  well 
read  according  to  the  standard  of  their  time.  But  these 
things  did  not  make  them  fathers  of  liberty  and  truth — 
nay,  but  they  loved  the  truth  and  they  became  its  ser- 
vants, and  through  contumely,  imprisonment,  and  death 
they  were  faithful  to  it ;  and  all  generations  of  English- 
men will  be  their  debtors. 

"  They  died  in  London.  Here,  where  all  the  forces 
of  the  age  seem  to  meet ;  here,  where  the  heart  of  the 
world  is,  whence  proceed  the  impulses  that  set  in  motion 
the  world's  vital  machinery  in  every  continent.  They 
delivered  their  witness  where  yours  has  to  be  delivered. 
Some  of  the  ends  for  which  they  died  have  been  attained, 
but  not  all,  and  not  the  greatest — Christ  is  not  King 
yet,  and  this  principle  of  Brotherhood  is  not  yet  the  law 
of  Society.  There  must  be  more  Martyrs  (for  the 
Martyr  is  the  man  who  bears  his  witness  at  any  cost), 
and  England  will  look  for  them  in  the  ranks  where  they 
were  found  before,  the  ranks  of  the  Independents.  Are 
we  prepared  ? 

"  We  of  the  Congregational  order  are  to  be  asked  to 
assemble,  I  believe,  as  we  have  never  in  all  our  history 
assembled  before,  on  April  the  8th,  almost  the  very  day 
of  the  Martyrdom  of  Barrowe  and  Greenwood,  in  Hyde 
Park,  near  the  spot  where  they  suffered  death.  Saturday 
has  been  fixed  instead  of  Thursday,  so  that  we  may  all 
be  able  to  go. 

4 '  It  is  to  be  no  mere  commemoration  service,  though 
it  is  that  of  course.  But  we  shall  gather,  as  Armies 
6 


82         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

gather  on  the  morning  of  a  new  Campaign,  to  join  hands 
and  hearts  in  prayer  and  dedication.  And  now  I  write 
to  you  because  the  young  men's  place  is  '  at  the  war ' ; 
you  are  the  front — the  place  of  danger  and  honour  is 
yours.  We  mean,  by  the  help  of  God,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Christ,  to  make  His  Will  the  Law  and  the  Life 
of  London. 

"  What  will  you  do  ? 

"  Will  you  undertake  in  your  various  Districts  to 
organize  yourselves  into  battalions,  and  to  obtain 
promises  from  all  whom  you  can  influence,  both  men  and 
women,  to  come  to  the  Park  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th 
of  April  next,  and  show  that  you  are  on  the  side  of  Truth 
and  Freedom  still  ?  I  venture  to  believe  that  if  it  is 
put  to  you  fairly,  you  will  not  only  do  it,  but  do  it  in 
such  a  way  as  will  abundantly  demonstrate  that  the 
spirit  of  our  fathers  is  strong  in  you.  '  Wherever  the 
Independent  has  planted  his  foot,  he  has  prevailed,'  says 
Dr.  Fairbairn.  Our  traditions  are  all  of  victory. 

"  When  our  Churches  truly  awake,  there  is  such  stuff 
in  them  as  will  make  itself  felt  in  London  and  throughout 
this  Kingdom.  We  shall  hail  a  brighter  day.  In  token 
of  this,  our  resolve,  let  us  assemble  on  the  8th  of  April 
from  every  quarter  of  this  great  Metropolis  and  testify 
to  our  determination  to  be  worthy  and  loyal  descendants 
of  the  Martyrs  of  1593,  and  to  help  onward  the  com- 
pletion of  the  work  which  they  so  nobly  and  valiantly 
endeavoured. 

"  Believe  me, 

"Yours  very  sincerely, 

"C.  SILVESTER  HORNE. 

"  KENSINGTON, 

"March,  1893." 

This  work  coincided  with  the  celebration  of  the  cen- 
tenary of  Kensington  Chapel,  in  connection  with  which 
Home  wrote  a  memorial  volume  under  the  title  A  Cen- 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         83 

tury  of  Christian  Service,  giving  a  simple  and  vivid 
account  of  the  establishment  of  the  church  and  of  the 
work  of  his  predecessors  in  the  ministry.  Of  the  cen- 
tenary meetings  in  the  church  he  writes  : — 

"  Dr.  Dale  preached  the  Centenary  sermon  to  a  con- 
gregation that  packed  the  Chapel  in  every  corner.  On 
the  Monday  night  we  had  a  glorious  public  meeting,  in 
the  course  of  which  we  presented  an  address  to  old  Dr. 
Stoughton,  commemorative  of  the  jubilee  of  his  connec- 
tion with  the  church.  Edward  White,  Dr.  Fairbairn, 
Prof.  Bryce,  and  Hugh  Price  Hughes  also  took  part,  and 
on  all  hands  the  meeting  is  confessed  to  have  been  worthy 
of  so  historic  an  occasion." 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  Home's  brother  Leonard 
married,  and  shortly  afterwards  removed  from  Kensing- 
ton to  Highgate.  Home  felt  the  loss  of  his  brother's  help 
in  the  church  acutely.  Up  to  the  time  of  his  own  mar- 
riage he  and  Leonard  had  lived  together,  and  he  had  had 
in  his  brother  a  most  active  church  worker  and  loyal 
supporter.  With  his  departure  he  felt  that  "  a  great 
deal  of  the  joy  of  Kensington"  was  lost.  But  he  was 
finding  compensations.  A  daughter  had  been  born  to 
him,  and  from  this  time  forward  his  diary  is  full  of  refer- 
ences to  his  delight  in  his  home  life  and  in  his  wife  and 
children.  As,  for  example  :  "  I  must  just  record  the 
wonderful  joy  and  interest  that  little  Dorothy  is  to  us. 
Now  that  she  has  discovered  that  she  possesses  the  gift 
of  tongues  and  has  begun  to  frame  all  kinds  of  pretty 
and  curious  sounds,  she  is  every  day  more  delightful. 
The  wonder  of  a  little  child  is  beyond  all  fathoming." 
This  same  year,  1893,  saw  the  commencement  of  two 
literary  tasks,  in  both  of  which  Home  took  the  keenest 
delight.  One  was  the  writing  of  a  novel,  A  Modern 
Heretic,  which  was  published  anonymously  a  year  later, 
and  the  other  a  popular  history  of  the  London  Mis- 


84         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

sionary  Society,  to  be  issued  in  the  centenary  year  of 
the  society,  1895.  How  Home  found  time  to  do  such 
work,  and  to  do  it  so  well,  is  something  of  a  mystery. 
He  was  as  busy  as  ever  in  his  church,  was  increasingly 
in  demand  outside,  and  yet  he  was  able  to  read  widely, 
and  to  prepare  himself  thoroughly  for  the  tasks  he  took 
in  hand.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  absorbed  in  politics — 
the  Home  Rule  controversy  being  then  at  its  height — 
and  was  leading  his  church  in  a  great  social  experiment 
by  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  Netting  Dale.  Yet 
amid  all  these  preoccupations  he  never  lost  sight  of  his 
main  interest,  the  preaching  of  the  Christian  Gospel  and 
the  presentation  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  to  the  minds 
of  men.  At  the  close  of  1894  he  writes  in  his  diary 
thus  : — 

"  The  year  is  closing :  and  to  me  it  has  been  a  good 
and  beautiful  year — and  not,  I  trust,  an  altogether  use- 
less one.  Would  that,  in  looking  back,  one  could  have 
an  accurate  stock-taking  and  note  with  some  exactness 
what  growth  there  has  been  in  faith  and  character. 
'  Let  a  man  examine  himself '  :  Paul,  who  knew  all 
the  dangers  of  ultra- introspection,  gives  this  as  whole- 
some counsel  for  us.  In  regard  to  faith  I  think  the 
great  gain  of  the  year  to  me  has  been  in  far  truer  percep- 
tion of  the  majesty  of  Paul's  view  of  predestination. 
The  marvellous  way  in  which  science  rehabilitated  this 
great  doctrine  just  at  the  time  when  the  Calvinist 
extremists  had  made  the  religious  world  most  impatient 
of  it  was  very  wonderful.  It  now  becomes  clear  and 
forcible  to  me  that  unless  we  firmly  grasp  the  truth  that 
God  has  appointed  for  us  a  destiny  in  Christ,  and  that  to 
that  destiny  we  were  foreordained  from  all  eternity, 
life  becomes  purposeless,  and  is  liable  to  be  treated  as  if 
it  were  a  mere  chapter  of  accidents.  I  find  great 
personal  satisfaction  and  help  in  considering  the  uni- 
formity of  natural  law,  and  how  gently  and  surely  God 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         85 

makes  His  presence  felt :  not  by  irregularities  and 
violent  departures  from  His  appointed  methods  ;  but 
by  a  steadfast  order  of  things,  on  which  we  can  always 
depend. 

"  Another  article  of  faith  which  has  been  more  to  me 
than  it  used  to  be  is  that  Christ  is  the  Truth,  and  we  are 
to  live  in  Him  ;  in  the  Truth.  '  We  are  in  Him  who  is 
true.'  I  do  not  yet  clearly  grasp  the  significance  of  this  : 
only  the  distinction  between  merely  true  things,  truisms 
of  life,  and  Truth,  which  is  not  only  eternally  true  but 
eternally  vital,  has  become  of  great  moment  to  me.  */ 
am  the  Truth?  says  Christ  :  not  I  speak  the  Truth,  nor 
act  the  Truth ;  but  I  am  the  Truth  :  as  if  the  Truth 
and  the  Life  were  essentially  one,  and  the  Life  of  Christ 
was  the  soul  and  substance  of  Truth. 

"  I  cannot  honestly  set  down  any  great  advance  in 
character ;  only  I  think  I  love  people  more — whether 
I  love  God  more  thus  is  a  harder  question  to  answer. 
I  often  think  Mrs.  Browning's  '  Confessions '  might  be 
mine  : 

'  I  saw  God  sitting  above  me  :  but  I,  I  sat  among  men, 
And  I  have  loved  these.' 

Possibly,  just  as  we  enter  into  fellowship  with  God 
through  the  Son  of  man,  we  still  come  to  love  God  better 
by  loving  man  better  :  and  especially  as  we  love  those 
who  are  not  naturally  lovable.  For  it  is  a  strange  and 
true  thing,  that  by  learning  to  love  the  unlovely  we  grow 
in  the  love  of  the  altogether  lovely." 

And  again : — 

"Possibly  the  work  in  Kensington  has  not  been  so 
vividly  coloured  as  an  unripe  experience  pictured  it 
five  years  ago ;  but  the  faith  in  the  future,  and  especially 
in  God's  control  of  it,  is  all  the  deeper  to-day.  The  error 
in  one's  own  conception  of  God's  ways  has  been  exposed, 


86         THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON 

but   gently,   patiently   as   He   doeth   all   things.     The 
clearer  light  has  meant  new  trust. 

"  I  think  God  leads  us  first  of  all  out  of  false  estimates 
of  Christian  success.  He  will  not  allow  us  long  to 
confound  prosperity  with  popularity.  He  does  not 
measure  the  work  done  by  the  number  of  sittings  let 
or  members  added  to  the  roll,  but  by  patience,  fortitude, 
magnanimity,  charity  produced  in  those  whose  lives 
are  influenced.  Thus  the  best  fruit  of  all  ministries 
is  not  to  be  seen  and  counted  like  so  many  grapes  upon 
the  vine.  It  is  an  underground  growth,  visible  only  to 
the  eye  of  Him  who  seeth  in  secret.  Upon  His  ministers 
in  all  fields  God  imposes  the  discipline  of  faith.  Under 
such  conditions  of  work  a  minister  is  constrained  to  self- 
examination.  He  has  to  be  very  honest  and  candid  with 
himself  as  to  the  spirit  of  his  ministry.  The  fruit  of  his 
work  on  others  depends  on  the  fruit  of  God's  work  on 
him.  He  can  look  with  absolute  certainty  to  great 
results  if  he  is  confident  that,  amid  all  imperfections, 
faith  and  love  and  truth  have  marked  his  ministry.  He 
does  not,  then,  ask  to  see  much  of  the  outward  signs.  He 
is  content  to  know  they  will  not  be  lacking  where  they 
are  needed  most  in  the  stress  and  strain  of  common  life. 
He  walks  less  by  sight  and  more  by  faith.  Thus  I 
think  it  is  given  to  you  and  me  in  our  ministries  to  serve 
and  to  endure  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  What- 
ever changes  the  years  to  come  may  bring,  they  can 
bring  none  that  will  suffice  to  interrupt  or  invalidate  a 
ministry  which  is  thus  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

The  autumn  of  1894  saw  the  publication  of  a  volume 
of  sermons  to  young  men  and  women,  entitled  The  Vital 
Virtues.  Home  thought  this  his  best  work  so  far,  and 
records  in  his  diary  his  "  candid  judgment  "  that  if  he 
had  any  special  gift  it  was  that  of  analysing  character. 
Certainly  these  sermons  show  a  good  deal  of  shrewd 
observation  and  sound  judgment,  as  well  as  deep  religious 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         87 

feeling.  This  same  autumn  saw  Home  plunged  into  a 
hotly  contested  School  Board  election.  It  was  marked 
by  a  miserable  religious  controversy  caused  by  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  certain  High  Churchmen,  led 
by  Mr.  Athelstan  Riley,  to  coerce  the  teachers  by  circular 
into  giving  definite  dogmatic  instruction.  The  Non- 
conformists were  at  once  up  in  arms  in  defence  of  simple 
Bible  instruction,  and  easily  won  the  day.  But  the 
bitterness  of  the  fight  remained. 

The  meetings  of  the  Congregational  Union  in  October 
of  this  year  were  held  in  Liverpool,  and  were  marked  by 
the  opening  celebrations  of  the  centenary  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  Home  was  one  of  the  speakers  at  a 
great  assembly  in  the  Philharmonic  Hall.  He  writes 
of  it  :— 

"  I  had  only  twenty  minutes,  and  had  condensed  and 
condensed  ;  and  the  speech  gained,  I  think,  greatly  in 
force,  and  was  a  success.  If  only  one  had  time  to  con- 
dense as  a  general  rule.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that — to  be  quite  frank — I  do  not  speak  well  extem- 
poraneously. It  is  only  after  laboured  and  elaborate 
preparation  that  I  really  speak  with  satisfaction  to 
myself  and  others.  Such  a  discovery  necessarily 
saddles  one's  ministry  with  a  burden  of  work  from  which 
'  the  easily  victorious  few '  who  '  seem  not  to  compete 
or  strive '  are  delivered.  But  one  must  not  quarrel 
with  one's  destiny." 

Home  was  always  very  critical  of  his  own  efforts, 
and  his  standard  was  a  high  one.  But  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  he  was  quite  fair  to  his  powers  of 
extempore  speech.  He  could  sometimes  be  brilliantly 
eloquent,  even  when  he  had  had  little  or  no  opportunity 
for  preparation,  and  about  his  most  carefully  prepared 
sermons  and  speeches  there  was  an  ease  and  spon- 
taneity which  concealed  all  traces  of  the  labour  spent 


88         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

upon  them.  How  great  that  labour  was  no  one  knew 
but  himself.  At  his  sermons  in  particular  he  toiled 
unceasingly,  counting  no  pains  too  great  to  be  spent 
in  preparation  for  the  pulpit.  He  wrote  once  : — 

"  To  the  Rev.  Justin  Evans 

"  It  has  always  been  my  great  sorrow  that  I  am  so 
indifferent  a  preacher,  and  it  has  been  my  one  com- 
manding ambition  to  be  a  good  one.  I  shall  never  be  in 
the  first  rank  of  preachers.  But  if  I  can  help  people, 
and  lift  them  just  a  little,  it  is  to  taste  in  measure  the 
joy  which  our  really  great  preachers  have  in  such  over- 
whelming degree." 

Early  in  1895  Home  paid  a  visit  to  Glasgow  and 
preached  before  the  university. 

"  The  ordeal  was  considerable,"  he  writes.  "  The 
procession  behind  the  mace,  side  by  side  with  the  vener- 
able Principal  and  followed  by  the  Professors,  was  not 
a  very  pleasing  preparation.  Neither  was  the  necessity 
of  being  gowned  and  hooded  altogether  a  happy  one. 
But '  where  law  abounded  grace  did  abound '  too,  and  on 
the  whole  I  enjoyed  myself,  and  had  some  gratifying 
thanks  from  Caird  and  Lord  Kelvin  at  the  close.  At 
night  I  had  4,000  people  in  St.  Andrew's  Hall,  and  thor- 
oughly rejoiced  in  the  environment." 

The  following  is  a  fuller  account  of  the  visit : — 

"  March  1895.— Several  friends  have  asked  me  to  set 
down  a  few  simple  details  about  my  visit  to  my  dear 
old  university  of  Glasgow  and  the  service  in  the  Bute 
Hall,  as  the  chapel  is  called.  The  Bute  Hall  is  used  for 
all  university  functions,  such  as  the  conferring  of  degrees 
and  the  weekly  university  service.  Any  ceremonial 
on  a  weekday  is  sure  to  be  made  lively  and  relieved  from 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         89 

undue  solemnity  by  numerous  facetious  interpolations 
and  the  shouting  of  time-honoured,  not  to  say  ante- 
diluvian, jokes  dear  to  the  undergraduate  mind.  But  on 
Sunday  all  is  different.  There  have  been  occasions 
when  the  undergraduates  in  question  have  applauded 
some  emphatic  opinion  of  a  reverend  orator,  as  when  they 
broke  into  decisive  demonstrations  of  approval  of  an 
appeal  by  Dr.  Dale  for  the  Hospitals.  No  doubt, 
however,  these  were  medical  students — we  put  down 
everything  rowdy  in  Glasgow  to  the  'medicals.'  The 
service  is  now  usually  characterized  by  the  utmost 
propriety. 

"  I  have  been  asked  whether  the  scene  in  the  chapel 
on  Sunday  is  not  picturesque.  I  can  only  say  it  depends 
on  the  point  of  view.  If  you  are  looking  at  someone  else 
in  an  exalted  position,  you  may  appreciate  the  pic- 
turesqueness  more  than  you  can  if  you  are  conscious  that 
you  yourself  are  the  object  of  curiosity.  However, 
let  me  begin  at  the  beginning.  The  preacher  for  the  day 
is  shown  into  an  ante-room  over  which  run  the  words 
"  University  Court."  He  finds  a  long  table,  on  which 
are  set  out  the  various  gowns  and  hoods  of  the  professors. 
He  himself  is  handed  over  to  the  genial,  well-preserved 
old  janitor  Mr.  Macpherson,  who  promptly  arrays  him  in 
gown  and  hood.  He  has  only  time  to  speculate  sadly 
as  to  his  appearance,  and  indulge  in  thankful  reflections 
that  no  Kensingtonian  is  near  at  hand  to  see,  when  the 
Principal  enters. 

"  Now  if  it  were  possible  for  me  to  express  the  vener- 
ation which  all  Glasgow  men  without  exception  feel  for 
Principal  Caird,  this  letter  would  not  be  written  in  vain. 
For  many  years  now  Principal  Caird  has  been  recognized 
in  Scotland  as  probably  the  first  pulpit  orator  of  this 
generation.  In  any  plebiscite  as  to  the  greatest  preacher 
in  Scotland,  Caird  would  stand  first,  the  rest  nowhere. 
His  brother,  Edward  Caird,  has  recently  become  better 
known  to  fame  in  England  by  reason  of  his  appoint- 


90         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

ment  as  Professor  Jowett's  successor  at  Oxford.  But 
in  Scotland  John  Caird  has  a  unique  place  in  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  Generous-minded  and  large-hearted, 
he  throws  open  the  University  pulpit  to  preachers 
of  every  denomination,  and  nothing  could  be  more 
beautiful  than  his  marked  courtesy  to  the  young.  If 
any  of  you  have  tried  to  read  his  book  on  the  philo- 
sophy of  religion,  you  have  probably  concluded  that  one 
who  could  write  such  a  book  must  be  a  most  severely 
intellectual  person.  Such  an  impression  might  be 
deepened  by  a  sight  of  Caird's  massive  head  with  the 
grey — now  nearly  white — hair,  and  the  dignified  manner. 
But  speak  to  him  privately,  and  nothing  could  exceed 
the  quiet  modesty  and  simplicity  and  kindliness  of  his 
manner. 

"  While  we  have  been  talking  about  the  Principal, 
other  professors  have  been  arriving,  prominent  among 
them  being  Lord  Kelvin.  It  would  be  superfluous  to 
describe  the  President  of  the  Royal  Society,  for  he  is 
well  known  everywhere.  His  somewhat  long  beard  is 
distinctly  greyer  than  when  I  used  to  be  a  very  unprom- 
ising pupil  of  his.  He  is,  of  course,  still  lame,  but  his  limp 
has  its  old  energy,  and  he  looks  as  if  he  intended  to  go 
on  discovering  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  as  no  doubt 
he  does. 

"  When  Principal  Caird  retires,  he  is  expected  to  be 
his  successor.  But  now  the  bell  is  ringing,  and  the  hour 
of  service  has  come.  The  beadle — most  dignified  he  in 
all  the  procession — shoulders  the  mace.  The  Principal 
beckons,  and  we  fall  in  immediately  behind  that  symbol 
of  academic  distinction.  The  Professors  follow  two  by 
two,  and  thus  we  ascend  the  staircase  leading  to  the 
chapel.  The  organ  begins,  the  congregation  rises,  and 
at  a  funeral  pace  we  try  to  carry  ourselves  with  an  air 
of  tolerable  ease  as  we  walk  from  one  end  of  the  hall  to 
the  other.  The  effort  is  not  successful.  Then  the 
Professors  divide  and  occupy  the  stalls  on  either  side  of 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         91 

the  pulpit,  while  the  Principal  and  the  Preacher  for  the 
day  sit  together  at  the  reading-desk  below  the  rostrum. 

"  The  Principal,  in  his  deep  and  still  rich  voice,  con- 
ducts the  devotional  service,  most  of  the  prayers  being 
taken  apparently  from  the  prayer-book  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland.  This  part  of  the  service  over,  the  beadle 
again  beckons,  the  Preacher  descends  from  the  reading- 
desk,  and,  personally  conducted  by  the  officer  in  question, 
ascends  the  spiral  stairs  into  the  lofty  pulpit  from  whence 
he  is  expected  to  preach. 

"  The  sermon  over,  the  procession  reforms ;  the  organ- 
ist plays  his  concluding  voluntary,  and  the  gowns  and 
hoods  are  laid  aside  with  infinite  relief,  at  all  events  on  the 
part  of  one  participator  in  the  afternoon's  proceedings." 

At  this  period,  also,  he  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  tour- 
ing about  the  country  in  the  interests  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  Wherever  he  went  he  had  great 
meetings,  and  the  candour  and  fervour  of  his  missionary 
appeals  produced  a  deep  impression.  He  was  never  so 
happy  as  when  speaking  on  this  topic,  and  both  by 
tongue  and  pen  he  contributed  greatly  to  the  success 
of  the  centenary  movement.  Home  missions,  too,  were 
very  near  his  heart,  and  on  one  of  his  flying  visits  to 
Manchester  Home  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  Mansfield 
House  Settlement  in  Canning  Town  with  Mrs.  Rylands, 
an  old  member  of  Kensington  Church,  and  a  most  loyal 
friend.  He  introduced  Percy  Alden,  the  warden,  to  her, 
and  they  obtained  a  most  generous  donation  towards 
the  building  of  the  new  residence. 

In  March  1895  Dr.  Dale  died.  Home  felt  the  loss 
acutely,  and  unburdened  himself  in  his  diary  : — 

"  Dr.  Dale  has  passed  away  ;  and  seldom  has  the 
Church  Catholic  mourned  more  genuinely  and  universally 
over  the  grave  of  anyone.  My  own  indebtedness  to 
Dale  is  of  course  inestimable.  Owing  to  my  father 


92         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

having  been  a  fellow-student  at  Spring  Hill,  stories,  often 
repeated,  made  him  one  of  the  heroes  of  my  boyish  days. 
Most  vividly  I  can  recall  my  first  introduction  to  him. 
It  was  at  West  Bromwich.  Dale  had  been  reopening 
one  of  our  churches  there,  and  the  congregation  was 
immense.  I  had  been  taken  over  by  my  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Hall,  and  was  armed  with  a  letter  from  my  father. 
As  the  congregation  was  dispersing  we  made  our  way 
to  the  vestry.  The  deacons  were  at  their  best.  The 
visit  of  the  renowned  minister  had  led  them  to  magnify 
their  office.  In  their  exalted  state  of  mind,  a  boy  in  his 
teens  intruding  himself  on  the  notice  of  the  great  Dale 
was  unseemly  and  preposterous.  I  myself  was  nervous 
and  excited  and  sensitive.  But  withal,  my  eagerness 
to  speak  to  the  Doctor  and  to  be  able  to  say  that  I  had 
really  shaken  hands  with  him  triumphed  over  all  my 
fears.  The  frowning  array  of  officials— probably  far 
kinder  than  to  my  childish  eyes  they  seemed — could  not 
discourage  me,  nor  their  curt  questions  drive  me  from 
my  purpose.  I  had  my  way.  The  vestry  door  opened, 
and  I  went  in.  Dr.  Dale  was  sitting  with  one  leg  across 
the  corner  of  the  table  :  I  can  see  him  now.  To  some 
he  may  have  seemed  unattractive,  and  he  would  certainly 
shut  up  or  stave  off  the  presumptuous  or  the  rude.  To 
me  he  seemed  then  and  ever  after  a  large-hearted  and 
fatherly  man.  He  read  my  letter,  and  at  once  was  full 
of  tender  interest.  My  father  had,  I  suppose,  hinted  at 
my  inclination  towards  the  ministry.  '  My  lad,'  said 
Dale,  looking  kindly  down  at  me, '  remember  our  tempta- 
tion is  not  as  a  rule  money.'  Then  he  pointed  through 
the  open  door  to  the  church,  where  the  crowds  of  people 
were  still  slowly  struggling  down  the  aisles  ;  '  that  is 
our  temptation,'  he  said.  Boy  as  I  was,  I  felt  instinc- 
tively what  he  meant :  and  a  curious  surprise  came  over 
me  that  he  should  feel  the  snares  of  popularity  so  keenly. 
Often  since  then  have  I  recalled  the  strong  kind  face, 
the  great  burly  man  sitting  across  the  table,  the  crowded 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         93 

vestry — for  there  were  numbers  of  friends  waiting  to 
speak— and  the  resonant  tones,  so  serious,  even  though 
accompanied  by  a  smile,  '  that  is  our  temptation.' 
That  he  should  say  '  our '  and  so  associate  a  lad  in  his 
teens  with  himself  in  the  fulness  of  his  popularity  was 
not  lost  on  me  then,  and  has  remained  a  very  gracious 
memory. 

"  I  could  go  on  writing  reminiscences  recalling  almost 
or  quite  every  occasion  of  meeting  him.  For  he  was  one 
of  those  rare  men  who,  at  every  encounter,  however 
frequent,  gave  you  something  to  remember.  It  was  an 
experience  to  see  him  in  his  study.  When  the  door  was 
opened  you  were  conscious  of  a  mephitic  atmosphere. 
Clouds  of  smoke  had  emanated  and  were  still  emanating 
from  a  point  above  the  writing-table.  Your  eyes  had 
to  grow  accustomed  to  see  in  smoke,  as  Gilmour  says 
he  had  to  in  the  Mongolian  tents.  Presently  you  dis- 
cerned a  large  form  with  the  dark  face  and  bushy  beard 
looming  out  of  the  cloud.  This  used  to  suggest  to  me 
David's  vision  of  Saul  in  the  tent,  as  Browning  painted 
him.  Finally  a  cheery  voice  was  heard,  a  great  grip  of 
the  hand  brought  you  to  yourself,  and  you  coughed  out 
your  enquiries  after  his  health.  When  I  entered  his 
study  on  the  day  of  the  funeral,  it  seemed  to  me  that  for 
the  first  time  I  saw  the  walls.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive 
how  strange  the  room  looked  in  smokeless  desolation. 
It  was  there  that  again  and  again  we  sat  and  talked.  It 
was  there  that  I  first  learned  how  deep  was  his  interest 
in  my  own  work.  He  was  very  much  concerned,  he 
told  me,  when  I  first  went  to  Kensington,  fearing  that 
my  views  might  change  so  considerably,  when  I  came 
face  to  face  with  the  practical  working  aspect  of  things, 
that  I  should  feel  uncomfortable  myself  and  probably 
make  others  feel  the  same.  He  was  wont  to  recommend 
books.  '  Read  Dorner  ' — that  was  to  me  the  sum  of  his 
theological  counsel.  '  Read  Dorner — I  am  more  and 
more  amazed  at  Dorner.'  Westcott  he  used  to  speak 


94         THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

very  appreciatively  of:  and  they  had  a  good  deal  of 
correspondence,  Westcott  frequently  confessing  indebted- 
ness to  Dale's  writings." 

In  May  of  this  year  came  the  first  premonitions  of 
failing  health.  The  pace  had  for  some  time  been  alto- 
gether too  fast.  Home  had  what  he  calls  "  a  very  nasty 
nervous  breakdown,"  which  compelled  him  to  rest  and  to 
take  things  very  quietly  for  a  time.  "  I  must  be  content 
to  rest  on  my  oars  and  only  give  an  indolent  tug  or  two 
occasionally."  In  the  summer  he  had  a  two  months' 
holiday  spent  in  Norway  with  Mr.  J.  G.  Fordham,  and 
afterwards  at  Letheringsett,  in  Norfolk.  While  there 
he  bought  a  plot  of  land  at  Sheringham,  on  the  cliffs  just 
outside  the  town,  where  his  father-in-law  built  a  house — 
The  Bluff — which  served  them  as  a  holiday  resort  for 
many  years  to  come.  His  constitution  soon  responded 
to  the  rest  cure,  and  his  letters  from  Norway  were  written 
in  the  highest  spirits,  and  reflect  in  every  line  his 
unstinted  enjoyment  of  mountain  and  sea. 

''  We  visited  the  North  Cape,  experienced  tropical 
heat  in  the  Arctic  circle,  and  grew  weary  of  the  midnight 
sun — it  really  should  not  keep  such  shamefully  late  hours 
—and  then  returning,  buried  ourselves  for  a  week  in  a 
charming  little  village  called  Os.  Here  we  saw  no 
English  people,  but  fished  to  our  hearts'  content  and 
prospered.  Then  home  to  England,  I  making  tracks 
for  Norfolk,  Katharine,  and  baby.  Oh,  but  all  the  charms 
of  Norway  do  not  compensate  for  the  absence  of  dearer 
charms,  and  it  was  like  returning  to  Paradise  must  be 
to  angels  who  have  been  visiting  fair  spots  on  earth. 
The  Norfolk  holiday  was  entirely  lovely.  It  was  delight- 
ful to  see  so  much  of  my  father-in-law,  to  enjoy  long 
walks  and  talk  with  him.  He  is  never  in  happier  vein 
than  when  in  the  country,  and  in  Norfolk  for  choice. 
His  love  of  all  country  things  and  scenes  is  so  fresh  and 


THE    MINISTRY    AT'  KENSINGTON         95 

keen.  Often  we  had  been  discussing  some  profound 
political  problem,  or  the  merits  of  this  or  that  ecclesias- 
tical system,  when  at  the  note  of  a  nuthatch,  or  the  tap, 
tap  of  a  woodpecker,  he  would  become  suddenly  alive 
with  an  eagerness  he  had  not  displayed  before.  The  pro- 
cesses of  Nature,  the  habits  of  all  animals,  are  to  him  of 
never- wearying  interest,  and  he  would  sit  for  hours  at 
the  door  of  the  summer-house  on  the  lawn  just  to  watch 
the  swallows  feeding  their  young." 

The  next  item  in  his  diary  is  on  a  very  different  theme, 
and  bears  witness  to  the  intensity  of  his  interest  in  things 
political  and  to  the  strength  of  his  opinions  in  regard  to 
them  : — 

"  During  my  absence  in  Norway,  England  witnessed 
the  greatest  political  revolution  of  the  century.  The 
Liberal  majority  of  40  was  turned  into  a  Conservative 
(or  Coalition)  majority  of  150  !  I  am  so  glad  I  had  no 
finger  in  this  mess,  and  shall  always  be  able  to  say  I  was 
well  out  of  it  !  Of  course  excuses  good,  bad,  and  indif- 
ferent are  not  wanting,  and  explanations  are  endless. 
Some  say  it  was  the  Local  Veto  cry,  some  the  Disestab- 
lishment proposals,  some  the  Labour  Party,  some  the 
dissensions  among  the  Irish,  some  Mr.  Gladstone's 
retirement,  some  Lord  Rosebery's  racing  proclivities.  It 
seems  probable  that  all  these  things  told  against  us ;  and, 
truth  to  tell,  we  had  no  general  proposals  to  lay  before 
the  electors  for  which  they  manifested  any  enthusiasm. 
It  comes  to  this — too  many  programmes,  and  too  little 
programme ;  a  number  of  Bills  acceptable  to  certain 
sections,  but  no  general  legislative  proposals  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  Such  proposals  must  surely  concern  the 
land,  with  which  is  bound  up  the  Tithe,  and  consequently 
the  Church  question.  I  feel  more  and  more  convinced 
that  the  Liberal  Party  must  make  up  its  mind  on 
this  question,  and  if  it  has  not  got  a  mind  to  make  up, 


96        THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON 

then  it  must  get  one,  or  else  consent  to  inanition  and 
decay." 

Immediately  on  his  return  from  his  holiday  Home 
plunged  into  the  preparation  for  a  mission  in  connection 
with  his  church  to  be  conducted  by  his  friend  Dr.Horton. 
Through  all  his  labours  he  never  lost  his  evangelistic 
interest  and  spirit.  He  felt  that  it  was  well  from  time 
to  time  to  try  and  reap  some  fruit  of  his  regular  ministry 
by  a  special  appeal,  and  at  the  same  time  to  attempt  to 
draw  in  those  whom  the  ordinary  services  of  the  church 
did  not  effectively  reach.  He  believed,  too,  that  this  could 
be  best  done  through  another  voice  than  his  own ;  but 
he  regarded  it  as  his  special  duty  to  prepare  the  way  of 
the  missioner  and  to  see  to  it,  as  far  as  possible,  that  the 
church  should  be  in  the  right  spirit  to  receive  the  message. 
He  held  meetings  and  conferences  with  this  end  in  view, 
and  in  none  of  his  work  was  the  fervour,  intensity,  and 
sanity  of  his  spirit  more  manifest.  The  mission  was 
a  great  and  striking  success,  and  when  it  was  all  over  he 
wrote : — 

"  Robert  Horton  has  just  concluded  an  eight  days' 
mission  here.  We  engaged  the  Town  Hall  for  the  week- 
nights,  and  on  the  Sundays  made  use  of  the  Chapel.  To 
help  in  the  singing  we  had  some  of  the  most  famous 
London  singers  as  soloists— Miss  Clara  Butt,  Mrs.  Mary 
Davies,  Miss  Evangeline  Florence,  Mr.  Daniel  Price — 
all  by  conviction  or  extraction  Congregationalists,  and 
all  voluntarily  serving  in  the  good  cause  in  the  most 
cheerful  and  cordial  way.  The  result  was  wonderful. 
The  Town  Hall  was  packed,  and  the  Chapel  also  crowded 
to  excess.  Horton  was  at  his  best,  so  admirably  lucid, 
persuasive,  spiritual.  There  was  nothing  hysterical, 
nothing  extravagant:  all  was  quiet,  thoughtful,  and 
yet  fervent.  The  impression  produced  must  be  indelible. 
There  was  a  stillness  that  could  be  felt ;  and  the  after- 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         97 

meetings  were  strangely  searching,  and  full  of  an  indes- 
cribable power.  My  wife  and  I  greatly  rejoiced  at  having 
Horton  with  us  in  our  home  for  these  eight  days.  The 
more  one  sees  of  him  the  more  one  is  charmed  by  his 
character,  and  the  '  sweetness  and  light '  of  all  his 
thoughts  and  ways.  I  know  no  more  genuine  repre- 
sentative of  the  '  saint '  as  medievalism  conceived 
him ;  yet  there  is  this  to  boot,  a  singular  candour  and 
openness  of  mind  which  has  been  the  secret  of  the  abuse 
to  which  he  has  so  freely  been  subjected  in  consequence 
of  his  '  advanced  '  views.  .  .  ." 

The  opening  of  the  year  1896  found  Home  at  the 
height  of  his  influence,  but  still  showing  signs  of  heavy 
strain  involved  in  his  manifold  labours.  His  work  at 
Kensington  was  becoming  more  and  more  fruitful.  The 
membership  of  the  church  was  now  over  500,  and  of  these 
310  had  joined  during  his  ministry.  He  was  appealing 
to  a  continually  wider  audience,  as  witness  the  growing 
demand  for  his  printed  sermons.  Early  in  the  year  he 
published  another  volume,  The  Life  thai,  is  Easy,  and  some 
Tracts  for  the  Times,  on  The  Spirit  of  Dives,  The  Sobriety 
of  Hope,  and  In  Praise  of  Optimism.  He  also  began 
another  novel,  which  never  saw  the  light.  Of  the  first- 
mentioned  book  he  writes  : — 

"  I  have  just  been  correcting  the  proofs  of  a  little 
book  entitled  The  Life  that  is  Easy  which  Mr.  Allenson 
is  on  the  point  of  publishing  for  me.  This  is  none 
other  than  the  book  written  originally  for  the  R.T.S., 
and  which,  after  circulating  round  their  Committee  for 
eighteen  months  or  more,  was  eventually  returned  to  me 
as  unsuitable  for  publication.  I  relegated  it  to  an  old 
chest  where  many  old  MSS.  sleep,  and  there  it  reposed 
beyond  the  reach  of  criticism  for  another  year  ;  and,  it 
is  to  be  hoped,  soothed  its  injured  feelings.  Allenson 
heard  of  this  rejected  MS.,  and  pressed  me  to  allow 
7 


98         THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON 

him  to  print  it.  At  last  I  gave  way  so  far  as  to  read 
it  over  again.  I  was  agreeably  disappointed  with  it  on 
the  whole.  Much  that  is  in  it  needs,  I  think,  to  be  said. 
So  I  rewrote  portions,  composed  a  Preface  which  hinted 
at  the  reception  the  book  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the 
R.T.S.,  and  now  here  it  is  about  to  see  the  light  as  an 
eighteenpenny  book." 

In  March  he  had  another  breakdown  in  health  due 
to  overstrain,  and  was  ordered  by  the  doctors  a  year's 
entire  cessation  from  public  work.  He  felt  that  it  was 
not  fair  to  ask  his  church  for  so  long  a  holiday,  and  that  he 
had  no  alternative  but  "  to  sit  down  and  write  my  resig- 
nation. Of  course  the  wrench  implied  is  an  infinitely 
distressing  one.  It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  it 
without  acute  pain.  There  is  no  love  like  the  first  love  ; 
and  there  is  a  peculiar  attachment  between  the  church 
and  myself  which  renders  separation  an  agony.  Never- 
theless, the  thing  had  to  be  done,  and  it  has  been  done, 
and  now  I  must  await  the  issue." 

The  issue  was  that  the  church  would  have  none  of  it. 
His  people  were  willing  to  give  him  all  the  rest  he  needed, 
and  to  wait,  if  necessary,  indefinitely  till  his  health 
should  be  restored.  They  asked  him,  with  every  expres- 
sion of  their  sympathy  and  goodwill,  to  withdraw  his 
resignation  and  take  a  full  year's  furlough,  and  they 
agreed  to  carry  on  meanwhile.  Home  could  do  nothing 
but  consent,  especially  as  Dr.  McClure,  of  Mill  Hill,  was 
willing  to  supervise  the  church  during  his  absence— an 
arrangement  which  greatly  relieved  his  mind.  He  left 
London  for  Norfolk  at  once,  from  whence  he  wrote  to  his 
father : — 

"  LETHEBINOSETT  HAXL, 

"April  4,    1896. 

'  With  this  letter  I  shall  enclose  the  resolution  passed, 
I  believe,  at  a  very  crowded  and  representative  Church 
meeting  last  Wednesday,  and  carried  with  all  unanimity 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON         99 

and  cordiality.  Indeed,  Mr.  Salter  says  that  there  was  no 
jarring  note  of  any  kind  ;  and  all  the  references  to  my- 
self seem  to  have  been  full  of  love  and  kindly  feeling. 
This  is,  of  course,  very  cheering  and  grateful ;  and  the 
arrangement  that  has  been  made  will  bring  relief  from 
much  anxiety.  You  cannot  think  what  a  number  of 
overwhelmingly  touching  letters  I  have  received  from 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people.  It  makes  me  feel 
very  rich,  though  it  accentuates  the  sorrow  of  being 
separated  from  them  for  so  long.  Some  people  want 
to  give  me  a  long  voyage  in  their  ships  ;  some  to  take 
me  off  to  the  Continent ;  and  indeed  the  generous 
offers  of  all  sorts  of  help  have  been  quite  overpowering. 
Meanwhile,  we  are  glad  to  be  quite  quiet  here  and  to 
think  things  over  a  little.  Mr.  Cozens-Hardy  is  such  a 
resource ;  so  sensible  and  sympathetic.  I  feel  more  and 
more  anxious  that  you  should  bring  Mother  down  to 
see  this  beautiful  spot  some  time  or  other.  We  have 
a  free  hand  to  invite  our  friends  !  ..." 

After  about  a  month  at  Letheringsett,  where  "bicycling 
and  vegetarianism,  combined  with  fresh  air  and  an  out- 
of-door  life,"  made  a  good  beginning  of  his  cure,  Home 
arid  his  wife  joined  the  ever  hospitable  Mrs.  Ry lands 
in  a  holiday  in  Switzerland  and  the  Italian  lakes.  His 
diary  gives  a  summary  of  their  doings  for  the  next  three 
months : — 

"  The  succeeding  three  months  were  spent  in  travelling 
amid  scenes  of  varied  loveliness  and  circumstances  of 
the  rarest  comfort,  not  to  say  luxury.  We  journeyed  by 
way  of  Calais  and  Basle  to  Berne,  and  then  began  our 
driving  tour,  visiting  Thun  and  Interlaken,  Grindelwald 
and  Murren ;  then  on  by  Brienz  and  the  Brunig  to 
Lucerne.  Here  we  saw  Leonard  and  Mary  for  a  few 
hours,  and  visited  many  points  on  the  lake.  Then  we 
drove  to  Axenfels  and  to  Goeschenen,  from  whence, 


100       THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON 

as  the  St.  Gothard  pass  was  not  yet  open,  we  took  train 
to  Lugano.  At  the  latter  place  we  stayed  a  long  time  ; 
too  long,  we  thought,  as  the  weather  was  very  close 
and  hot.  Nevertheless,  it  was  a  centre  from  which  we 
explored  Como,  Maggiore,  Milan, Varese,  and  other  places. 
When  we  set  out  from  Lugano  northwards,  we  drove 
to  San  Bernardino  by  way  of  Bellinzona,  and  from  San 
Bernardino  to  Spliigen  and  Thusis  and  Dissentis  ;  then 
by  the  Lukmanier  pass,  making  our  way  to  Airolo  ; 
thence  over  the  St.  Gothard  to  Hospenthal.  Here  we 
rested  a  few  days,  and  then  resumed  by  way  of  the  Furka 
and  the  Rhone  Glacier,  driving  over  the  Grimsel, 
and  finally  down  the  Rhone  Valley  to  Brieg,  where  we 
parted  with  our  carriage  and  five.  Taking  train  to 
Martigny,  we  crossed  the  Tete  Noire  the  next  day,  and 
descended  to  Chamonix.  Here,  amid  the  tremendous 
scenery  of  the  Mont  Blanc  range,  we  spent  nine  days  ; 
and  then  drove  to  Cluses,  took  train  to  Geneva  en  route 
for  Paris.  At  Paris  we  had  one  or  two  delightful  days, 
and  then  were  not  sorry  to  return  to  England,  and 
especially  to  the  bairns,  who  had  meanwhile  gone 
to  Newport  for  a  visit.  The  trip  was  immensely  helpful 
to  me  physically,  and  everybody  congratulates  me  on  my 
improved  appearance.  It  was,  of  course,  fruitful  beyond 
telling  of  ideas,  suggestions,  experiences.  I  feel  as  if 
I  should  never  lack  for  illustrations  again,  so  rich  a 
fund  has  accumulated  during  these  months.  ...  As 
for  our  hostess,  Mrs.  Rylands,  she  was  all  to  us  that  a 
mother  could  be  ;  full  of  eagerness  to  make  everything 
helpful  and  interesting.  We  conceived  a  real  affection 
for  her,  and  even  the  prospect  of  reunion  with  the 
children  did  not  make  it  easy  to  say  good-bye  to 
her." 

This  trip  was  followed  by  a  further  stay  in  Norfolk,  and 
then  early  in  1897  Home  started  off  again  for  a  tour  in 
the  Mediterranean  along  with  his  brother  Fred,  who 


THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON       101 

was  also  in  need  of  rest  and  a  change.     After  his  return 
he  wrote  in  his  diary  : — 

"  Meanwhile  let  me  record  that  Fred  and  I  have  had  a 
jaunt  together  up  the  Mediterranean,  have  looked  in 
on  Jerusalem,  meandered  round  Jericho,  and  wandered 
on  asses  in  desert  places  in  search  of  Pyramids.  Fred 
had  a  nasty  attack  of  lung  mischief :  and  as  it  was 
assumed  that  I  should  be  all  the  better  for  a  final  tramp 
abroad  before  resuming  work,  we  took  each  other  off 
to  the  south.  We  had  an  excellent  voyage  out  in  the 
Creole  Prince,  sailing  from  Manchester  down  the  Canal, 
a  maudling  sort  of  a  start  !  Among  the  interesting 
people  on  board  was  Mr.  Eden  Philpotts,  literary  editor 
of  Black  and  White,  and  a  considerable  author.  We 
became  very  thick,  and  he  has  been  to  hear  me  preach 
since  my  return.  He  is  a  first-rate  fellow,  and  I  hope 
to  see  much  of  him. 

"  It  would  take  a  series  of  diaries  to  record  all 
my  impressions  of  the  Mediterranean — Tunis,  Malta, 
Alexandria,  Jaffa,  Sidon,  Jerusalem,  Cairo,  and  so  forth. 
I  have  written  a  good  many  articles  about  the  trip  in 
the  Christian  World.  And  oh,  the  home-sickness,  after 
we  turned  our  prows  definitely  Englandwards  !  And 
oh  the  fogs  off  the  Spanish  coast  and  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  !  Then  the  arrival,  disembarking,  and  journey 
to  London ;  and  the  indescribable  rapture  of  having 
wife  and  children  once  again  within  one's  vision  and 
grasp,  so  as  to  feel  that  one  was  not  alone,  but  had  a 
habitation  and  belongings.  These  things  belong  to  the 
ineffable.  Everyone  who  is  truly  married  is  a  steward 
of  such  mysteries." 

Home  settled  down  to  work  again  in  April  1897,  full  of 
hope  and  vigour.  His  church  gave  him  a  warm  welcome. 
During  his  absence  it  had  been  decided  to  give  him  an 
assistant,  and  the  Rev.  Charles  Clay  was  appointed  to  the 


102       THE    MINISTRY   AT    KENSINGTON 

office.  This  lightened  his  burden  considerably;  but 
the  fact  must  be  reckoned  with  that  from  this  time 
onwards  he  had  to  contend  with  a  certain  physical  weak- 
ness. He  was  not  disposed  to  acquiesce  too  easily  in 
medical  cautions,  and  he  found  it  very  hard  to  dis- 
continue "  work  that  had  become  to  be  dear  as  life 
itself."  But  he  decided  to  go  quietly  ahead  and  see 
what  the  future  should  bring  forth.  One  of  his  great 
interests  at  the  moment  was  the  issue,  in  collaboration 
with  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Darlow,  of  a  small  volume  of 
liturgical  services  for  the  use  of  Congregational  churches. 
It  bore  the  title  Let  us  Pray,  and  followed  the  lines  to 
which  Home  had  accustomed  his  Kensington  congre- 
gation. He  felt  strongly  the  need  for  some  improvement 
in  Free  Church  worship,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
little  book,  which  has  been  followed  by  several  others  on 
the  same  lines,  contributed  greatly  towards  the  end  he 
had  in  view. 

1897  was  the  year  of  Queen  Victoria's  Diamond 
Jubilee.  At  the  request  of  the  Free  Church  Council 
Home  drew  up  a  special  form  of  service  for  the  Jubilee 
Sunday,  which  was  widely  used.  Of  the  celebrations 
generally  he  was  somewhat  critical.  He  writes  : — 

''  The  enthusiasm  displayed  has  been  due  to  two  things 
principally — the  recognition  of  the  Throne  as  the  centre 
of  our  vast  imperial  system  and  the  recognition  of  the 
personal  qualities  of  the  Queen.  Those  whose  imagina- 
tions do  not  easily  take  fire,  even  in  view  of  so  magnificent 
and  inspiring  a  fact  as  the  British  Empire,  find  their 
affections  stimulated  by  the  simple  and  genuine  goodness 
of  the  Queen's  character.  There  cannot  be  two  opinions 
that  to  us  of  the  Puritan  strain  this  latter  fact  is  the 
prime  motive  of  a  loyalty  such  as  we  have  never  felt 
or  expressed  towards  any  other  monarch.  The  sub- 
stantial purity  of  the  Court  is  a  thing  new  in  English 
history  outside  the  Commonwealth,  and  undoubtedly 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON       103 

it  has  had  its  effect  in  a  better  tone  throughout 
society. 

"  Yesterday,  by  the  kind  invitation  of  Mr.  R.  J. 
Barrett,  the  treasurer  of  my  mission,  I  had  a  splendid 
seat  for  viewing  the  procession  just  at  the  corner  of 
St.  James'  Street  and  Piccadilly,  and  commanding  an 
admirable  view  of  both.  Opinion  is  unanimous  that  it 
was  a  magnificent  military  pageant.  The  representatives 
of  the  Colonies  and  the  Colonial  troops  were  received  by 
the  vast  multitude  with  wild  enthusiasm,  and,  needless 
to  say,  the  Queen's  reception  was  most  affectionate  and 
touching.  For  the  moment  one  was  so  carried  away  as 
to  feel  that  nothing  better  could  have  been  devised  or 
executed,  but  one's  after-thoughts  tend  to  a  good  deal  of 
criticism.  How  is  it  that  our  only  idea  of  an  exhibition 
of  national  greatness  and  power  is  a  parade  of  the  mili- 
tary ?  Why,  if  Colonial  statesmen  were  allowed  places, 
were  English  statesmen  excluded  ?  Why  were  Art, 
Science,  Literature,  Commerce  conspicuous  by  their 
absence  ?  Above  all,  why  was  Gladstone  not  there  ? 
The  occasion  was  unique  for  the  greatest  architect  of 
the  Constitution  to  be  honoured  by  the  people.  Indeed, 
it  was  probably  the  final  opportunity  of  allowing  the 
millions  of  the  Empire  to  see  him. 

"  One  reflects  ruefully  that  this  exclusive  attention 
and  honour  given  to  the  military  ends  in  flunkeyism 
and  snobbism  unlimited.  The  list  of  honours  is  out  of 
all  proportion  a  naval  and  military  list.  Yet  no  one 
can  pretend  that  the  '  Services,'  as  they  are  called,  do 
the  really  hard  and  lasting  work  on  which  the  solid 
greatness  of  England  depends.  But  they  are  showy  ; 
they  take  the  eye  ;  they  please  the  vulgar  desire  for 
colour  and  physique  ;  their  clothes  are  fine  and  their 
horses  handsome.  The  consequence  is  that  we  continue 
to  submit  to  a  monopoly  which  is  to  the  last  degree 
undeserved,  and  discreditable  to  a  sensible  and  just 
nation. 


104       THE   MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

"  It  is  perhaps  worth  noting  that  at  the  religious 
service  on  the  steps  of  St.  Paul's  places  were  found  for 
thirty  representatives  of  the  Free  Churches.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  they  were  not  permitted  to 
take  any  part  in  the  service  ;  even  though  the  Queen 
is  for  half  her  time  a  Presbyterian,  and  consequently  in 
the  eye  of  the  Episcopal  Church  a  Nonconformist. 
More  than  half  of  this  nation  belongs  to  the  Free 
Churches,  but  we  continue  to  allow  to  one  sect  the 
monopoly  of  all  great  national  functions.  This,  too,  I 
fancy,  is  largely  a  question  of  clothes.  We  like  the  Army 
for  its  uniforms,  and  the  clergy  for  their  copes  and 
vestments  generally.  The  ordinary  Londoner  likes  any- 
thing, indeed,  that  reminds  him  of  Sanger's  Circus  or 
the  Lord  Mayor's  Show.  And  on  such  occasions  as  these 
it  is  perhaps  the  wisest  and  best  arrangement  that 
he  should  have  his  tastes  gratified.  At  any  rate,  our 
public  processions  and  ceremonial  do  not  err  in  the 
direction  of  being  pitched  in  too  high  a  key.  The  proof 
of  which  is  that  they  are  popular ;  and  until,  if  ever, 
education  improves  and  purifies  our  tastes,  they  will 
continue  to  be  popular." 

Home  took  his  holiday  late  this  year,  and  remaining 
in  London  during  the  greater  part  of  August,  had  the 
opportunity  of  preaching  to  much  smaller  congregations 
than  usual.  He  makes  the  interesting  confession  that 
he  found  it  a  relief :  "  when  every  sensation  of  crowding 
eagerness  and  excitement  is  lacking  one  gets  a  quiet 
and  calm  which  is  by  no  means  ad  verse !  to  true  worship. 
I  feel  with  some  genuine  satisfaction  that  I  am  person- 
ally not  in  the  least  dependent  on  a  crowded  congrega- 
tion for  stimulus  and  fervour  in  the  conduct  of  public 
worship." 

Before  he  left  London  he  wrote  a  scathing  letter  to 
the  Independent  expressing  his  entire  lack  of  confidence 
in  the  Liberal  leaders,  and  especially  Sir  W.  Harcourt,  in 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON       105 

consequence  of  their  action  or  inaction  regarding  the 
South  African  Committee.  It  is  a  matter  of  history 
that  the  committee  was  content  to  whitewash  the  doings 
of  Cecil  Rhodes  and  the  Chartered  Company,  and  neither 
on  the  committee  nor  in  the  House  of  Commons  did  the 
Liberal  leaders  raise  any  protest.  They  did  not  even 
dissent  from  Mr.  Chamberlain's  declaration  that  the 
personal  honour  of  Rhodes  was  unstained.  Home's 
protest  was  timely,  and  voiced  the  very  general  feeling 
of  Nonconformists.  It  led  him  to  watch  South  African 
affairs  with  some  care,  and  prepared  the  way  for  his 
very  pronounced  attitude  on  the  Boer  War.  The  end 
of  this  year  and  the  beginning  of  1898  saw  some  changes 
at  Allen  Street  Church.  Mr.  William  Holborn,  who 
had  been  secretary  of  the  church  for  about  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  was  compelled  by  ill-health  to  resign  his 
office,  and  shortly  afterwards  Mr.  Thomas  Walker  died. 
Home  felt  keenly  the  loss  of  such  staunch  friends  and 
fellow- workers.  He  writes  : — 

"  These  changes  affect  me  most  keenly.  I  do  not 
know  how  to  endure  them,  and  have  not  the  philoso- 
phical mind  which  can  accept  them  as  part  of  the  regular 
order  of  things.  Certainly  we  are  very  rich  in  capable 
officers  at  Allen  Street,  but  oh  these  changes,  these 
changes  !  " 

The  following  extracts  from  the  diary  speak  for 
themselves  : — 

"  Mar.  26, 1908. — At  the  beginning  of  this  week  I  was 
in  Leicester.  The  meetings  of  the  Liberal  Federation 
were  being  held,  and  Sir  Walter  Foster  and  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Fordham,  were  staying  at  the  same  house.  I  found 
him  very  genial  and  friendly  ;  but  we  had  a  most  des- 
perate argument  over  the  new  proposal  to  establish  a 
Roman  Catholic  University  in  Ireland.  John  Morley 


106       THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

has  got  into  great  disgrace  among  Nonconformist 
Liberals  by  his  support  of  this  proposition  ;  Mr.  Cozens- 
Hardy  declared  to  me  that  he  had  betrayed  us.  I  found 
Sir  Walter  actually  sympathetic  with  the  proposal; 
and  I  told  him  that  I  thought  that  we  had  arrived  at 
one  educational  principle  at  least,  viz.  never  to  coun- 
tenance grants  of  public  money  for  sectarian  purposes. 
Evidently  there  will  be  the  usual  division  of  opinion  in 
the  Liberal  camp.  We  never  seem  to  be  able  nowa- 
days to  make  a  really  forceful  protest  on  behalf  of 
anything,  so  divided  are  we  among  ourselves." 

"  May  20,  1898.— Gladstone  died  yesterday.  Quite 
early  in  the  morning  special  editions  of  the  evening 
papers  were  issued  announcing  that  he  passed  away 
about  5  a.m.  It  was  the  morning  of  Ascension  Day — 
in  itself  a  beautiful  coincidence.  One  could  not  help 
feeling  that  if  he  had  been  able  to  choose,  he  would  have 
chosen  this  day  of  all  days  to  die  on.  Outside  the 
weather  was  significant  of  the  universal  sense  of  desola- 
tion. A  strong  and  bitter  east  wind,  and  driving  rain, 
turned  our  May  to  winter.  The  whole  world  was  chill 
and  drear  beyond  description.  Joy  seemed  suddenly 
to  have  withered  from  the  face  of  things.  I  went  down 
to  my  evening  service,  where  I  found  only  some  five 
and  forty  people  assembled.  Of  course  the  one  thought 
was  uppermost — Gladstone  was  dead.  I  spoke  to  them 
of  him  as  one  to  whom  we  owed  much  as  Noncon- 
formists, but  who  would  be  specially  remembered  as  a 
great  Christian  statesman.  Few  men  can  ever  have  lived 
who  maintained  so  consistently  the  highest  standard 
of  public  life.  With  one  of  the  most  magnificent  and 
versatile  intellects  of  all  time,  he  found  no  difficulty  in 
associating  therewith  a  simple  and  childlike  faith. 
There  was  no  incongruity  between  his  thought  and  his 
belief.  And  he  had  that  supreme  crown  of  a  good  life, 
a  calm  and  serene  death,  untroubled  by  fear  and  doubt, 
though  his  last  illness  was  accompanied  by  severe  and 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON       107 

protracted  agony.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  think  of 
England  without  Gladstone — he  was  such  a  large  part 
of  her  life.  His  career  is  the  history  of  modern  England. 
He  entered  Parliament  four  years  before  her  Majesty 
came  to  the  throne.  He  broke  all  Parliamentary 
records.  No  one  ever  held  so  many  times  the  highest 
offices  of  state,  or  occupied  a  seat  in  Parliament  for  so 
many  years.  From  all  countries  and  all  parties  there 
is  a  vast,  impressive  chorus  of  eulogy  and  lamentation. 
An  American  leading  journal  calls  him  '  the  world's 
greatest  citizen,'  and  doubtless  so  he  has  been.  He 
leaves  scarcely  a  contemporary  of  note  behind  him. 
Ruskin  seems  the  one  great  survivor  of  an  age  of  giants 
— and  of  course  he  is  a  much  younger  man.  Dr. 
Martineau  alone  remains  who  in  greatness  of  intellect 
and  character  is  akin  to  Gladstone  ;  and  he  has  lived 
the  life  of  the  man  of  letters,  and  not  borne  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  day  as  Gladstone  did.  We  are  all 
speculating  whether  the  funeral  will  be  at  Hawarden  or 
the  Abbey." 

Early  in  1899  Home  was  approached  by  the  church 
at  Queen  Street,  Wolverhampton,  with  a  view  to  his 
succeeding  Dr.  Charles  Berry.  Nothing  came  of  the 
overtures,  except  that  they  caused  him  to  review  his 
position  at  Allen  Street,  and  to  question  whether  his 
work  there  might  not  be  over. 

"  There  is  no  outward  reason  for  discouragement,"  he 
wrote,  "  but  I  am  not  sure  that  by  remaining  I  shall 
carry  the  congregation  forward  to  any  point  of  greater 
spiritual  prosperity.  ...  A  minister  wants  to  know 
that  there  is  such  a  general  enthusiasm  for  the  work  of 
the  church,  and  such  real  gain  resulting  from  his  ministry 
that  the  congregation  is  advancing  in  the  spiritual  life. 
Nothing  is  so  difficult  to  ascertain  as  this,  and  one  may 


108       THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

be  misled  by  a  few  signs  that  do  not  mean  much.  But 
I  am  not  persuaded  that  we  have  the  necessary  spirit 
among  us,  and  hence  this  unsettled  feeling  for  almost  or 
quite  the  first  time  in  my  ministry." 

How  groundless  these  fears  were  is  indicated  by 
another  passage  in  his  diary  a  few  months  later  :— 

"  I  have  felt  a  good  deal  encouraged  here  latterly. 
Congregations  have  been  large,  additions  to  the  church 
numerous,  and  the  responses  to  an  appeal  we  have 
issued  for  a  Twentieth  Century  Fund  most  splendid  and 
inspiring.  The  whole  congregation  to  a  man  and  woman 
has  entered  into  the  scheme  with  ardour  and  liberality, 
demonstrating  that  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  our  mission 
and  principles  has  never  been  stronger  and  truer.  I 
have  had  some  further  overtures  from  Wolverhampton, 
but  they  have  been  indirect,  and  do  not  disturb  me 
now.  My  present  duty  is  very  clear  before  me,  and  I 
must  not  allow  myself  to  be  diverted  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left." 

Meanwhile  outside  calls  were  multiplying.  The 
London  Congregational  Union  elected  him  its  chairman. 
Remonstrances  from  his  deacons  led  him  to  decline  the 
honour,  but  he  ultimately  accepted  the  vice- chairman- 
ship with  a  view  to  taking  the  chair  in  the  following 
year.  He  wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

"  April  17,  1899. 

"...  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  have  accepted  the 
Vice-Presidency  of  the  London  Union ;  not  without 
misgivings  certainly,  and  not  without  a  clear  under- 
standing from  Mearns  »  as  to  the  maximum  of  work 

1  Rev.   Andrew  Mearne,  secretary  of   the  London  Congregational 
Union. 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON       109 

that  I  am  to  be  expected  to  do.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
I  could  not  decently  refuse.  The  time  is  a  somewhat 
critical  one.  We  are  launching  a  vast  scheme,  and  what 
one  voice  can  do  to  give  it  a  chance  and  an  encouraging 
word  ought  to  be  done.  .  .  ." 

The  following  letters,  also  to  his  wife,  show  him  in 
another  mood:  — 

"April  20. 

"...  We  are  going  to  have  a  unique  Cromwell  ser- 
vice on  the  30th.  I  am  printing  a  special  Order  of 
Service.  We  are  going  to  sing  Cromwell's  psalm  (117) 
in  the  old  Scotch  version,  to  Bangor,  the  tune  to  which 
Carlyle  says  it  was  sung.  Then  Andrew  Black  is  going 
to  sing,  and  we  have  chosen '  Is  not  His  Word  like  a  fire  ?  ' 
from  the  Elijah.  You  remember  how  the  Lord  whets 
His  sword  and  breaks  them  in  pieces  like  a  hammer  ! 
Oh,  very  Ironsidy.  He  will  also  sing  '  Why  do  the 
nations  ?  '  with  the  lovely  bit  about  the  Kings  and 
Rulers  of  the  earth  setting  themselves  against  the 
Lord's  anointed  1  But  I  will  send  you  an  Order  when 
printed.  .  .  ." 

"August  1,  1899. 

"...  Fred  and  I  spent  a  happy  day  yesterday  at 
Lord's,  where  for  the  first  time  I  saw  Ranjitsinji  in  his 
real  form,  and  am  somewhat  of  a  convert  to  the  belief 
that  he  is  the  most  beautiful  bat  in  the  world.  We  also 
saw  Trott  hit  a  ball  clean  over  the  Pavilion — a  perfectly 
giant  drive,  worth  going  far  to  see.  Altogether  it  was 
a  capital  day's  cricket,  and  pleasantly  warm,  with  a  light 
breeze  from  the  north." 

Later  in  August  he  started  for  America  in  order  to 
attend  the  International  Congregational  Council  at 


110       THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON 

Boston.  His  part  in  the  programme  was  to  read  a  paper 
on  work  among  young  people,  but  this  represented  only 
a  fraction  of  the  work  he  had  to  do.  He  spoke  at  other 
sessions  of  the  council,  and  at  some  of  the  social  functions 
connected  with  it,  and  always  with  such  a  combination 
of  wit  and  fervour  as  delighted  his  audiences.  He  felt 
himself  very  much  at  home  in  the  freer  ecclesiastical 
atmosphere  of  America,  and  was  very  happy  in  all  his 
references  to  it.  The  result  was  that  he  was  almost 
overwhelmed  with  invitations  to  preach  and  speak. 
On  his  return  he  wrote  of  his  experiences  as  follows  : — 

"  I  was  too  lazy  to  write  in  my  diary  during  the  rest 
of  the  trip,  and  perhaps  too  busy  and  happy  seeing  every- 
thing and  everybody.  We  travelled  up  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  Niagara.  There  I  went  on  alone  to  Chicago  and  St. 
Louis,  and  rejoined  Alfred  Fordham  down  south  at 
Gettysburg.  Thence  we  made  our  way  up  through 
Washington,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York  to  Boston. 
The  Council  occupied  the  rest  of  my  time.  It  was  a  most 
memorable  occasion.  I  was  very  fortunately  housed 
in  Boston,  receiving  hospitality  from  a  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Adams,  who,  with  their  son  and  daughter,  made  up  one 
of  the  happiest  families  I  have  ever  met.  Their  kindness 
was  quite  overpowering.  The  same  applies  to  a  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  W.,  who  entertained  me  royally  at  St.  Louis, 
and  from  whom  I  parted  with  real  emotion.  At  Chicago 
I  had  as  guide  Dr.  Simeon  Gilbert,  formerly  editor  of  the 
Advance.  He  showed  me  everything,  and  made  my  stay 
as  delightful  as  it  was  profitable.  At  Montreal  we  were 
indebted  for  exceptional  kindness  to  Dr.  George,  the 
Principal  of  the  Theological  College.  And  at  Newhaven 
my  dear  friend  Dr.  Ray  Palmer  and  his  daughter  were 
extraordinarily  good  to  us.  I  travelled  home  in  the 
same  ship  as  Dr.  Fairbairn,  who  was  a  most  congenial 
companion.  We  went  straight  to  Manchester,  and 


THE    MINISTRY    AT    KENSINGTON        111 

stayed  with  Mrs.  Ry lands  until  the  inaugural  ceremonies 
of  the  Rylands  Library  were  over.  Everything  passed 
off  to  perfection.  Fairbairn's  address  was  beyond  praise, 
and  Mrs.  Rylands'  gracious  and  dignified  bearing  all 
through  was  something  to  remember." 


CHAPTER  IV 

RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

THE  year  1900  was  clouded  by  the  first  reverses  of  the 
Boer  War.  Home  was  opposed  to  the  war  throughout, 
as  he  had  been  to  the  whole  policy  which  led  up  to  it. 
Time  and  events  have  abundantly  justified  the  attitude 
which  he  took  up ;  but  for  the  moment  he  was  very  much 
alone,  and  though  he  never  wavered  in  his  convictions, 
he  felt  keenly  the  isolation  which  they  involved.  He 
stuck  to  his  point,  however,  and  both  by  his  pen  and 
by  word  of  mouth  he  bravely  bore  witness  to  what  he 
believed  to  be  the  claims  of  justice  and  humanity.  It 
hurt  him  grievously  to  be  in  opposition  to  the  policy 
of  his  country,  for  he  was  indeed  a  patriot  at  heart,  but 
just  for  that  very  reason  he  could  do  no  other.  His 
position  may  be  best  described  in  his  own  words  : — 

"January  3, 1900. — Everybody  wants  to  know  whether 
this  is  or  is  not  the  beginning  of  a  new  century.  Those 
who  are  strong  in  arithmetic  and  poor  in  imagination 
say  no,  but  imagination  is  on  the  side  of  1900.  Never 
has  any  year  opened  drearier.  We  are. at  war  with  the 
Transvaal,  and  have  suffered  reverse  on  reverse.  There 
is  no  prophesying  the  end,  and  the  whole  business  seems 
lamentable  and  avoidable.  I  have  perpetrated  one 
letter  of  protest  to  the  Daily  News,  for  which  Mr.  Bryce  1 
sent  me  a  much- valued  word  of  approval  and  thanks. 
It  was  '  the  best  thing  he  had  seen  lately.'  I  preached 
against  the  war  with  some  hesitation,  but  there  seemed 
no  reason  for  silence  except  that  the  war  fever  was  violent 

1  Now  Lord  Bryce. 
112 


RELIGION   AND    POLITICS  113 

and  prevalent.  I  hope  the  pro-war  part  of  the  congrega- 
tion will  forgive  me  by  the  middle  of  the  century.  One 
old  friend,  a  Scotchman,  came  to  see  me  a  few  Sundays 
back,  and  broke  into  sobbings  as  he  tried  to  tell  me  that 
three  dear  friends  had  been  killed  in  the  Black  Watch. 
He  believed  they  were  fighting  for  justice.  So  no  doubt 
they  were,  even  if  our  country  has,  through  her  states- 
men, put  herself  in  the  wrong. 

"  I  spent  a  good  part  of  yesterday  with  Horton 
and  Pierce  at  the  Vandyck  Exhibition.  We  were  all 
enraptured,  and  especially  delighted  with  the  picture 
of  Lord  Wharton,  lent  by  the  Czar.  He  has  a  serene, 
a  heavenly  face,  and  is  described  in  the  catalogue  as  a 
'  violent  Puritan.'  This  is  very  entertaining.  Horton 
seems  to  think  that  we  cannot  win  in  this  war,  and  that 
Providence  will  deal  kindly  with  us  in  allowing  us  to  be 
still  further  defeated  ;  so  that  South  Africa  may  become 
United  Dutch  States.  He  thinks  the  power  and  charac- 
ter of  a  Boer  are  such  as  might  make  his  rule  there  purer 
and  nobler  than  ours.  I  confess  I  do  not  share  his  views, 
and  still  hope  for  the  supremacy  of  Britain  in  South 
Africa  ;  but  we  have  done  all  in  our  power  to  make 
disaster  inevitable." 

"  January  12. — Latterly  I  have  been  feeling  terribly 
lonely.  I  cannot  use  any  other  word.  Say  what  you 
like,  there  is  an  alienation  where  opinion  on  some  great 
question  is  fiercely  divided.  My  own  feeling  of  horror 
and  shame  at  the  war  I  cannot  put  on  paper,  nor  into 
words.  I  feel  exactly  as  Dr.  Arnold  used  to  say  he  did 
when  the  sympathies  are  at  war  with  the  reason.  My 
sympathies  are  all  with  my  country  ;  but  my  convictions 
are  against  her.  The  feeling  that  she  is  wrong,  and  is 
pursuing  at  appalling  cost  a  wrong  path,  is  agonizing. 
I  do  not  sleep  properly  at  nights  ;  and  indeed  the  strain 
of  the  situation  is  unspeakable.  Then  the  loneliness  ! 
So  few  of  my  nearest  and  dearest  friends  take  this  view. 
Certainly  Mr.  Cozens-Hardy  is  a  great  stand-by.  He  is 
8 


114  RELIGION    AND    POLITICS 

so  true  to  the  nobler  love  of  England,  and  faith  in 
her  mission.  I  am  afraid  my  own  father  is  on  the  other 
side  ;  and  I  can  hardly  remember  ever  differing  from 
him  before.  I  do  not  dare  to  write  and  ask  him  just 
what  he  thinks  ;  for  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  bear  to  know 
that  he  is  in  favour  of  the  war.  Mr.  Edward  Spicer,  too, 
whose  judgment  I  respect  almost  more  than  that  of 
anyone  I  know,  is  a  believer  in  the  justice  of  the  war. 
It  is  staggering,  bewildering.  I  try  to  go  on  with  a 
smiling  face  and  keep  people  happy ;  but  my  heart  is 
lead.  The  misery  of  the  felt  estrangement  on  a  great 
moral  issue  is  intense.  I  have  seen  Horton  to-day  and 
had  a  long  talk  with  him.  We  are  to  summon  a  meet- 
ing of  our  ministers  for  prayer.  I  wanted  to  make  it  an 
opportunity  for  a  simple  protest  on  behalf  of  peace, 
and  against  the  war  spirit  and  policy,  but  he  overrules 
me,  and  this  is  better  than  nothing.  It  is  a  relief,  '  the 
sure  relief  of  prayer.'  " 

"February  28. — We  at  home  are  fighting  almost  as 
fiercely  as  Briton  and  Boer  out  there.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  bitterness  and  brutality  of  the  extreme  Jingo 
faction.  One  of  our  ministers  whom  it  would  be  unkind 
to  name  has  denounced  the  entire  Peace  party  as  either 
1  imbecile  or  traitors '  !  Probably  the  most  deplorable 
fact  of  the  situation  is  that  many  of  our  men  who  took 
a  strong  clear  line  at  first  have  been  intimidated  by  this 
violence  into  apologizing  for  their  former  ideas.  I  was 
present  when  .  .  .  said  at  Mr.  .  .  .'s  table  that  he 
regarded  the  war  as  the  crime  of  the  century  ;  but  now 
no  language  is  too  severe  for  him  to  use  in  condemnation 
of  those  who  are  in  favour  of  stopping  this  war.  J.W. 
has  executed  a  most  remarkable  back-somersault ;  for 
having  preached  uncompromisingly  against  the  war,  he 
has  now  preached  as  uncompromisingly  in  favour  of  it, 
taking  '  Joab,'  of  all  people,  as  a  model  for  England's 
imitation.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Rhodes  has  been  declaring, 
amid  approving  and  enthusiastic  cheers,  that  the  English 


RELIGION   AND    POLITICS  115 

flag  is  the  most  valuable  commercial  asset  in  the  world. 
The  Daily  Mail  exults  over  the  probable  renewed  pros- 
perity of  the  African  capitalists,  declaring  there  is 
nobody  like  '  Bobs.'  Even  Lord  Roberts  has  done  the 
one  unchristian  act  of  which  I  should  think  he  will  ever 
be  accused,  and  has  connected  the  victory  over  Cronje 
with  Majuba,  thereby  pandering  to  all  the  lowest  senti- 
ments of  revenge.  And  this,  God  help  her,  is  England. 
To  us  who  are  fairly  paralyzed  by  all  this,  the  saddest 
thought  is  that  we  can  never  feel  quite  as  we  have  done 
about  England  in  the  future.  To  be  shut  in  to  admira- 
tion of  her  more  distant  past ;  to  have  one's  belief  in 
her  justice  deadened  if  not  destroyed  ;  to  see  how 
weakly  she  will  allow  her  sense  of  fairness  and  justice 
to  be  overborne  by  the  clamour  of  men  whom  history 
has  proved  to  be  unscrupulous  adventurers — all  this 
is  horrible  enough.  And  I  personally  feel  it  must 
weaken  one's  ministry.  Love  of  country,  and  pride  in 
country,  is  something  one  would  fain  cherish  if  for  no 
other  reason  because  it  enables  one  to  strike  a  note  to 
which  the  hearts  of  one's  fellows  are  quickly  and  en- 
thusiastically responsive.  But  I  can  never  talk  again 
quite  with  the  same  accent.  If  England  should  rise  up 
and  declare  her  determination  to  respect  the  indepen- 
dence and  integrity  of  the  Boer  Republics,  she  might 
even  yet  go  far  to  reinstate  herself  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  and  in  her  own  eyes.  But  when  one  considers 
the  tone  of  the  Press,  and  the  temper  of  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, and  one  must  add  the  flabbiness  of  the  '  Non- 
conformist Conscience,'  one  can  only  expect  the  worst." 

Home  made  no  secret  of  the  opinions  thus  expressed. 
That  he  was  labelled  a  pro-Boer  and  incurred  a  good 
deal  of  obloquy  and  abuse  from  the  gutter  press  disturbed 
him  far  less  than  the  fact  that  he  was  compelled  to  differ 
from  many  of  his  friends.  His  church,  however,  remained 
entirely  loyal,  and  as  time  went  on  it  became  clear  that 


116  RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

there  was  far  more  sympathy  with  his  position  in  Non- 
conformist circles  than  appeared  on  the  surface.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  the  rushed  khaki  election  of  the 
autumn  of  1900,  but  he  had  never  any  hope  that  it  would 
alter  the  balance  of  parties.  He  deplored  the  bitterness 
engendered  and  the  low  ebb  to  which  the  public  spirit 
had  sunk. 

About  this  time,  also,  he  was  greatly  disturbed  by 
receiving  an  urgent  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Morning- 
side  Congregational  Church,  Edinburgh.  Morningside 
is  a  young  church,  and  was  then  led  by  a  band  of  keen 
and  active  men  who  believed  that  it  had  a  great  future 
before  it.  They  were  prepared  to  launch  out  into  a 
great  forward  movement  and  to  make  the  church  a 
centre  of  Congregational  witness  for  all  Scotland.  But 
they  wanted  the  right  kind  of  leader,  and  they  believed 
that  they  had  found  him  in  the  minister  of  Allen  Street. 
Home  was  greatly  attracted  by  the  prospect.  Edinburgh 
itself  appealed  to  him,  especially  as  it  offered  a  prospect 
of  influencing  the  university  students.  Then  there  was 
a  spice  of  adventure  about  the  whole  scheme,  an  oppor- 
tunity of  making  a  fresh  start  and  of  working  on  his  own 
lines.  All  this  led  him  to  consider  the  call  very  seriously. 
He  wrote  in  his  diary  : — 

"  November  29. — Latterly  the  feeling  has  been  growing 
upon  me  that  I  have  done  all  I  can  with  this  congrega- 
tion. Last  Sunday  evening,  for  instance,  I  harangued 
them  on  Temperance.  I  had  the  sense  then,  which  I  so 
often  have,  of  talking  things,  which  to  me  are  almost 
life-blood,  to  those  who  are  just  a  little  amused  at  my 
impetuosity.  In  other  words,  I  think  the  large  majority 
at  Allen  Street  do  not  believe  with  me.  They  are  there 
because  they  believe  in  me.  I  like  this  state  of  things 
and  I  don't.  We  are  very  happy  together.  They 
respect  me  and  I  respect  them ;  but  we  are  not  close 
enough  to  one  another  to  be  able  to  move  all  together. 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  117 

I  would  give  a  good  slice  of  the  dignity  of  Allen  Street 
for  some  almost  devil-may-care  enthusiasm  and  hot- 
headed fanatical  madness  of  Paul's  sort.  Not  one  of 
my  congregation  that  I  can  think  of  would  need  to 
explain  to  Festus  that  he  is  not  mad  !  Well,  I  am  going 
up  to  Edinburgh  next  week  to  look  round  and  hear 
proposals.  So  far  I  shall  certainly  go,  unless  the  unfore- 
seen happens.  After  that — well,  there  will  be  some 
delicate  weighing  to  do,  and  one  can  only  leave  the  issue 
in  His  Hands  Who  helpeth  our  infirmities  of  judgment." 

The  decision  was  a  very  difficult  one  to  make.  Home's 
friends  were  divided.  Some  of  them,  including  Dr. 
Fairbairn,  thought  that  for  his  own  sake  a  change  would 
be  good  but  doubted  whether  he  would  find  in  Edinburgh 
the  best  kind  of  scope  for  his  powers.  His  own  people 
were  greatly  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  losing  him,  and 
both  collectively  and  as  individuals  urged  him  to  remain 
among  them.  He  was  greatly  touched  by  the  strength 
and  sincerity  of  their  pleading,  and  came  to  realize,  as  he 
had  perhaps  not  done  before,  how  deep  was  their  attach- 
ment to  him  and  how  greatly  they  depended  on  him  for 
spiritual  leadership  and  teaching.  The  consciousness  of 
this  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his  ultimate  decision, 
that  his  duty  still  lay  in  London.  He  therefore  declined 
the  call  to  Edinburgh,  and  explained  his  reasons  in  the 
following  very  frank  letter  to  the  Kensington  Church. 

"  December  22,  1900. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIENDS, 

"As  you  are  all  aware,  I  have  been  anxiously 
considering  during  the  last  few  days  an  invitation  to 
become  the  Minister  of  Morningside  Congregational 
Church,  Edinburgh.  The  attractions  of  such  a  call  can 
perhaps  only  be  fully  appreciated  by  those  who  know 
the  opportunity  for  work  presented  by  Morningside, 
the  proximity  of  the  University  men,  and,  above  all, 


118  RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

the  quality  of  Christian  life  in  the  members  of  the 
Church  itself.  As  you  will  readily  suppose,  the  fact 
that  the  Church  is  prepared  to  make  very  real  and 
tangible  sacrifices  to  sustain  me  in  the  work  there,  and 
has  courage  and  faith  to  '  attempt  great  things  for  God,' 
has  deeply  impressed  me.  From  all  parts  of  Scotland 
I  have  received  tributes  to  the  sterling  and  exceptional 
character  of  those  who  are  leaders  of  that  Church. 
Among  my  own  ministerial  friends  here  in  England  are 
some  who  knew  the  Morningside  Church  well,  and  all  of 
them  were  agreed  that  if  I  had  any  thought  of  leaving 
Kensington,  no  better  or  happier  opening  was  possible 
for  me. 

"  This  was  the  case  for  Edinburgh.  On  the  other 
hand  was  your  tried  loyalty  and  undiminished  confidence 
and  affection,  of  which  I  have  had  so  gracious  an  expres- 
sion during  the  past  ten  days.  I  had  to  review  the 
situation  here,  to  try  to  estimate  the  probability  of 
injury  to  the  work  here  if  I  were  to  leave — work  which 
I  love  with  all  my  heart.  Gradually  the  issue  narrowed 
itself  to  this.  In  which  of  these  two  spheres  am  I  more 
needed  ?  In  other  words,  which  is  the  more  difficult 
post  to  fill  ?  Which  is  the  harder  fort  to  hold  ? 

"  The  great  body  of  evidence  which  I  have  been  able 
to  gather  points  to  the  certainty  of  success  in  Edinburgh. 
The  situation  is  ideal,  the  population  is  rapidly  increasing, 
and  there  is  no  such  social  hostility  to  our  work  there  as 
prevails  here.  All  this  is  immensely  attractive.  But  in 
Kensington  we  have  a  peculiarly  difficult  neighbourhood. 
Our  numerical  weakness  as  Free  Churchmen  must  be 
apparent  to  every  observer.  We  have  to  encounter,  and 
by  God's  help  overcome,  an  almost  inconceivable  degree 
of  prejudice.  Moreover,  we  share  the  problems  of 
London.  We  have  to  fight  the  growing  apathy  and 
irreligion.  We  have  to  deliver  our  witness  against  a 
dominant  and  aggressive  sacerdotalism.  I  want  to  tell 
you,  therefore,  that  while  I  still  feel  the  fascination  and 


RELIGION   AND    POLITICS  119 

promise  of  this  new  work  in  the  north,  I  feel  even  more 
sure  that  the  post  of  greater  difficulty  is  the  post  of 
greater  honour  and  duty,  and  it  is  a  post  made  happy  by 
your  loving  and  unvarying  sympathy  and  help.  Acting 
on  this  consideration,  I  have  declined  the  invitation  to 
Edinburgh  ;  and  I  confidently  appeal  for  all  your  help 
and  support  in  continuing  the  Ministry  which  God  and 
this  Church  of  Christ  have  called  me  to  fulfil. 

"  Believe  me,  yours  very  affectionately, 

"  C.  SILVESTER  HORNE." 

At  the  morning  service  on  December  30  he  said  : — 

"  To  few  congregations,  perhaps,  could  I  have  written 
as  frankly  about  motives  as  I  did  to  you,  but  I  knew  you 
would  not  misunderstand.  You  would  not  fall  into 
the  error  of  thinking  Duty  a  thing  irksome,  but  rather 
the  gladdest,  happiest,  most  attractive,  most  beautiful 
of  all  pathways.  For  that  deep  sympathetic  under- 
standing of  the  position  I  thank  you. 

"  There  is  no  need  for  you  to  know  how  far  across  the 
border  I  was  when  your  kind  hands  reached  me  and  drew 
me  back.  I  had  come  to  believe  that  perhaps  after  all 
the  Forth  was  almost  as  fine  a  river  as  the  Thames,  but 
to-day  I  have  no  regrets  save  the  old  one,  that  I  am  so 
unequal  to  my  duties  and  so  undeserving  of  myprivileges. 
It  is  my  prayer  that  this  new  demonstration  of  your 
attachment  and  loyalty  may  make  you  a  better  church 
and  me  a  better  minister  and  a  better  man." 

Though  he  settled  down  to  his  work  again  contentedly 
enough,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Edinburgh  call  had 
shaken  him,  and  had  left  him  wondering  whether  he 
ought  not  to  look  for  some  new  and  wider  sphere  for  his 
powers.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  felt  increas- 
ingly the  limitations  of  the  ordinary  pastorate.  This 
feeling  was  enhanced  by  his  experience  of  a  mission 


120  RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

which  he  conducted  in  Cambridge  early  in  1901.  The 
mission  was  arranged  by  the  Free  Churches  of  the  town, 
but,  held  on  the  neutral  ground  of  the  Guildhall,  it 
attracted  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  and  women,  and 
made  an  extraordinarily  deep  and  wide  appeal.  Home 
was  always  at  his  best  when  pleading  the  claims  of 
Christianity  with  young  men  and  women,  and  on  this 
occasion  he  certainly  excelled  himself.  The  Cambridge 
churches  felt  the  effect  of  it  for  many  years.  He  wrote 
of  it  to  his  wife  : — 

"  CAMBRIDGE, 

"  February  18,  1901. 

"  We  have  begun.  I  was  wishing  all  the  while  that 
you  were  here  last  night.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight.  .  .  . 
On  Sunday  morning  I  had  a  very  fine  congregation  at 
Emmanuel  Church,  and  we  had,  I  think,  a  good  service. 
Then  I  had  lunch  at  Tom  Winterbotham's  rooms,  and 
from  there  went  on  to  the  Guildhall  to  the  young  people's 
meeting.  The  hall  was  packed.  The  head  master  of 
the  Leys  School  gave  the  address,  and  the  service  was 
quite  a  good  one.  At  night  the  hall  was  a  seething  mass 
of  people,  and  an  overflow  meeting  was  held  by  Halliday 
Douglas,  the  Presbyterian,  in  the  small  hall.  Hundreds 
of  people  stood  all  the  time.  I  spoke  on  Repentance, 
and  the  meeting  was  a  quiet  and  impressive  one.  The 
singing  is  splendid,  though  the  solos,  I  fear,  will  not  be 
a  great  addition.  ...  I  am  going  to  address  the  Leys 
School  and  also  a  meeting  for  University  men." 

"  February  19. — You  simply  cannot  conceive  how  busy 
I  am.  It  is  most  interesting.  ...  I  started  a  Bible 
Reading  yesterday,  and  had  the  small  hall  at  the  Guildhall 
full.  At  night  the  large  hall  was  packed  again,  and  we 
certainly  had  a  very  fine  meeting.  The  pledge-cards  are 
largely  enquired  for.  This  afternoon  I  have  been  to 
see  Dr.  Dykes  at  Westminster  College,  andDr.Woodhead.1 
I  am  going  on  from  here  to  P.  S.'s  rooms,  and  after  that 

1  Now  Sir  Q.  Sims  Woodhead. 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  121 

to  address  the  Leys  School.  Then  there  is  the  evening 
meeting.  We  are  going  to  have  a  meeting  for  University 
men  after  all  on  Thursday  night,  at  9.30.  How  on  earth 
I  am  going  to  get  any  Sunday  preparation  done  I  don't 
know  !  " 

"  February  21. — .  .  .  Once  again  I  do  wish  you  were 
here.  I  seem  suddenly  to  have  broken  out  into  the 
character  of  a  successful  missioner  !  Nobody  is  quite 
so  astonished  as  I  am.  The  crowds  here  have  amazed 
everybody.  Last  night  the  great  Hall  was  densely 
thronged,  and  numbers  could  not  get  in.  There  were 
large  numbers  of  University  men,  working-men  from 
the  railway,  and  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people 
besides.  In  the  afternoon,  at  my  Bible  Reading  at  3 
o'clock,  the  small  hall  was  fairly  flooded  out.  Chairs 
had  to  be  brought  in,  and  every  corner  was  filled.  The 
absolute  stillness  and  electric  atmosphere  is  quite 
extraordinary.  We  are  learning  of  all  sorts  of  remark- 
able results.  The  pledge-cards  are  being  extensively 
used,  and  the  after- meetings  are  wonderful.  I  don't 
ask  those  who  are  just  deciding  to  hold  up  hands,  but 
I  put  the  proposition  fairly  to  the  meeting,  and  wait 
while  the  hesitaters  make  up  their  minds.  Then  we 
all  repeat  the  pledge.  To-night  I  have  a  meeting  for 
Varsity  men.  I  find  the  interest  in  it  has  grown,  and 
probably  it  will  be  well  attended.  But  it  is  an  awful  day, 
the  snow  is  blinding,  and  the  streets  are  deep  in  slush. 
So  we  may  have  but  a  thin  audience  at  both  meetings. 
Well,  God  disposeth  !  .  .  ." 

"  February  23. — Just  a  line  to  say  I  am  home,  and  have 
two  sermons  to  write  in  one  day.  The  end  of  the  mission 
sort  of  baffles  description.  Thursday  night  was  a  terror 
of  snow,  slush,  and  general  beastliness  ;  but  the  hall  was 
crowded.  I  spoke  about  temptations,  from  a  big  pile 
of  letters  I  had  received.  Then  I  went  to  the  small 
hall.  I  should  think  we  had  150  undergraduates. 
Dr.  Woodhead  told  me  it  was  just  the  right  address. 


122  RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

I  hope  so.  I  went  for  them  straight.  '  All  things  are 
yours  and  ye  are  Christ's.'  Your  peril  is  that  you  have 
so  much  to  enjoy  and  so  little  to  endure.  You  get  out 
of  touch  with  the  Cross.  That  sort  of  thing.  I  got 
home  about  eleven  o'clock.  Yesterday  was  a  fine  day. 
At  the  Bible  Reading  we  had  nearly  400  people  !  We 
packed  them  into  every  corner  of  the  small  hall.  Then 
at  night,  such  a  scene.  The  huge  hall  was  one  seething 
mass  of  humanity.  We  had  '  Count  your  blessings  ' 
twice  !  I  spoke  on  Fidelity.  At  the  close  I  had  an  after- 
meeting,  and  about  1,500  people  stayed.  Then  the 
ladies'  enquiry  room  was  so  full  that  I  was  there  till 
about  a  quarter  to  twelve  !  After  that  two  University 
men  were  waiting  to  talk  with  me,  and  various  others  to 
say  good-bye. 

"  Altogether  I  shall  never  forget  it  as  long  as  I  live, 
and  I  don't  think  the  people  will  forget  it  easily.  ..." 

Earlier  in  this  year  the  public  mind  had  been  greatly 
occupied  and  stirred  by  the  death  of  Queen  Victoria  and 
the  accession,  illness,  and  coronation  of  King  Edward. 
When  the  "  tumult  and  the  shouting  "  had  died  down, 
Home  wrote  of  it  all : — 

"  We  are  just  emerging  out  of  the  period  of  mourning. 
Shades  of  purple  and  heliotrope  relieve  the  black  hats 
and  dresses  of  the  women,  and  the  men  venture  on  black 
and  white  ties  instead  of  the  entire  black  that  has  been 
customary  for  two  or  three  months.  The  Sunday  follow- 
ing the  death  of  the  Queen  was  a  memorable  day.  It 
seemed  as  if  for  once  everybody  went  to  church.  I  had 
seen  Madame  Clara  Butt  during  the  week  :  she  was 
unwell,  but  consented  to  sing  '  Abide  with  Me  '  at  the 
Memorial  Service.  I  believe  this  hymn  was  written  as  a 
funeral  hymn.  The  setting  by  Mr.  Liddle  has  become  a 
great  favourite  ;  in  addition  to  which  the  Queen  herself 
delighted  in  it.  We  had  an  enormous  congregation, 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  123 

numbers  of  people  being  unable  to  obtain  admittance. 
None  will  ever  forget  Clara  Butt's  singing.  I  hardly 
dared  to  look  at  the  faces  of  the  people.  There  was  a 
big  lump  in  my  own  throat,  and  my  voice  was  very 
unsteady  when  I  offered  prayer  at  the  close.  We  took 
Bridget  to  church  for  the  first  time.  She  was  much 
impressed  ;  but  when  I  asked  her  what  she  remembered, 
she  only  said,  '  I  saw  you  up  there  by  the  piano ! ' 
(organ). 

**  We  had  a  very  fine  view  of  the  funeral  procession 
from  Cambridge  Terrace.  Judged  merely  as  a  procession, 
it  had  two  obvious  defects.  It  was  far  too  exclusively 
military  ;  and  there  was  no  music  except  at  one  point 
of  the  procession.  The  coffin  was  borne  on  a  gun- 
carriage,  and  was  covered  with  a  glorious  white  silk  pall. 
On  the  top  were  crowns,  sceptre,  and  the  insignia  of 
her  office  generally.  As  the  coffin  drew  near  I  hoisted 
little  Bridget  on  to  my  shoulder  so  that  she  might  see 
better.  She  was  evidently  startled;  and  she  said,  in 
quite  a  loud  tone, '  But  the  table  hasn't  got  any  legs.' 
This  she  repeated  to  me  on  the  following  day.  It  was 
of  course  useless  to  explain  to  her  what  a  coffin  really 
was,  so  I  did  not  try. 

"  A  very  different  kind  of  show  was  the  opening  of 
Parliament  in  state  by  the  new  King  and  Queen.  We 
saw  the  procession  from  the  best  possible  point  of  view— 
the  windows  of  Mr.  Gurney  Salter's  office,  just  opposite 
the  House  of  Lords.  The  amazingly  comic  Cinderella 
coach  was  an  object  of  wonder  and  amusement  to  every- 
body. Someone  remarked  that  you  could  not  see  the 
King  and  Queen  for  Lord  George  Sanger  !  This  was 
hardly  true,  because  you  could  see  the  King  and  Queen 
exceedingly  clearly.  Near  us  one  of  the  cream-coloured 
horses  had  the  good  sense  to  get  a  leg  over  the  trace. 
The  coach  was  stopped,  and  we  gazed  contentedly  on 
royalty  for  quite  a  couple  of  minutes. 

"  Another  quite  interesting  state  function  at  which 


124  RELIGION    AND    POLITICS 

I  *  assisted '  was  the  presentation  of  an  address  to  His 
Majesty  by  representatives  of  the  Three  Denominations. 
There  were  twenty  of  us,  Congregationalists,  Baptists, 
and  Presbyterians.    Mr.  William  Pierce  was  our  secretary 
and  the  reader  of  the  address.     We  assembled  at  the 
Memorial  Hall  and  drove  to  St.  James'  Palace,  where  we 
were  ushered  into  a  robing-room.     Those  who  had  not 
the  university  gown  and  hood  wore  the  Geneva  preach- 
ing robe  with  white  bands.     Some  of  the  gowns  had  a 
hireling  appearance.     When  we  were  made  thus  present- 
able for  the  august  presence,  we  were  taken  into  one  of  the 
great  waiting-rooms,  where  three  other  deputations  were 
assembled — the  Unitarians,  the  Quakers,  and  the  Univer- 
sity of  London.     In  the  next  room  to  ours  the  Bishops 
and  Established  Clergy  of  Scotland  were  in  full  fig.     It 
was  pleasant  to  watch  the  animation  of  old  Archbishop 
Temple  as  he  discoursed  with  one  and  another.     He 
is  perhaps  the  finest  illustration  of  the  good  physical 
effects  of  abstinence  in  the  Kingdom.     By  and  by  we 
were  marshalled  in  fours  opposite  two  folding  doors. 
Then  at  a  given  signal  the  doors  opened,  and  we  looked 
through  to  the  throne  at  the  far  end,  and  the  King  in 
scarlet  uniform  with  the  Duke  of  York  standing  on  his 
left  hand.     We  formed  a  semicircle  round  the  King, 
and  Pierce  advanced  three  steps  and  made  three  bows, 
and  then  read  the  address  in  a  clear,  pleasant  voice. 
It  was  a  good  address,  I  thought,  emphasizing  the  glories 
of  peace,  and  the  value  of  the  liberties  for  which  we 
have  contended.     The  King,  who  looked  ill,  and  spoke 
in  a  very  hoarse,  thick  voice,  read  the  reply  which  his 
secretary  handed  to  him.     After  this  hands  were  kissed 
by    old    Mr.    Turquand,    somewhat    portly    and    very 
effusively  loyal,  who  almost  overreached  himself  in  his 
exuberance,  and  by  Professor  Hackney,  Anabaptist,  who 
strode  up,  seized  the  King's  hand,  lifted  it  and  gave  it  a 
resounding  smack,  which  made  even  the  bored  beefeaters 
smile.     Then  began  the  backwards  shuffle,  and  I  got 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  125 

first  to  the  door,  turned,  and  fled.     Sic  transit  gloria 
mundi." 

In  April  Home  had  a  welcome  extra  holiday  in  Italy 
with  his  wife  and  her  father  and  sister.  They  spent 
the  time  mainly  in  Rome  and  Florence,  and  did  the  sights 
very  thoroughly.  At  Rome  they  had  an  audience  with 
the  Pope,  and  Home  remarked  on  the  unreal  theatricality 
of  the  whole  scene,  and  confessed  himself  more  interested 
in  pagan  than  in  Christian  Rome.  The  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance of  the  Papal  entourage  made  as  little  appeal 
to  him  as  did  the  pretensions  of  the  Pope  to  temporal 
power.  He  never  indulged  in  any  illusions  in  regard 
to  the  relations  between  Protestant  and  Catholic 
Christendom,  or  sought  to  minimize  the  gulf  that  separ- 
ates them.  When,  therefore,  soon  after  his  return 
home,  he  was  invited  by  Mr.  Athelstan  Riley  to  attend 
a  reception  "  of  those  interested  in  the  reunion  of 
Christendom,"  he  accepted  the  invitation  without  any 
great  expectations  as  to  the  issue.  He  wrote  :— 

"  I  don't  honestly  think  I  am  much  interested  in  that 
pious  aspiration,  but  I  was  very  glad  to  go.  Mr.  Riley 
was  most  gracious,  and  took  great  pains  to  make  me  feel 
at  home.  He  first  of  all  introduced  me  to  Earl  Nelson, 
a  great  cripple,  with  whom  I  did  not  find  many  topics  of 
conversation ;  and  subsequently  to  Lord  Halifax. 
I  greatly  enjoyed  a  talk  with  the  latter.  He  was  very 
genial,  and  when  I  thanked  him  for  an  address  he 
delivered  at  Stepney  Meeting,  he  said  he  thought  it  a 
very  natural  thing  to  do  and  a  very  simple  one.  '  Why 
should  we  not  be  friendly  ?  '  he  asked ;  and  I  could 
only  confess  that  I  did  not  know  why,  but  that  we  by 
no  means  always  were.  The  shibboleth  of  the  evening 
seemed  to  be  that  the  things  that  unite  us  are  greater 
than  the  things  that  divide.  This  I  heard  repeated  a 
score  of  times.  The  Vicar  of  Lambeth  talked  agreeably. 


126  RELIGION    AND    POLITICS 

Lord  Halifax  introduced  him  to  me  as  the  man  who 
has  the  cure  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's  soul. 
*  It  is  a  very  sweet  soul,'  said  the  Vicar ;  but  Lord 
Halifax  laughingly  deprecated  the  adjective  !  Father 
Black  was  another  of  the  notorieties  I  met.  He  was 
appropriately  clothed  in  a  black  robe,  but  evidently  had 
some  jocular  capabilities  in  him.  A  Dr.  Stephens,  who 
has  recently  left  the  Church  of  Rome  for  the  Church  of 
England,  seemed  to  be  received  with  caution  by  the  latter, 
and  viewed  with  coldness  by  the  Romanists.  There  were 
Greek,  Russian,  Roman,  and  Anglican  priests  and  laymen 
present  in  large  numbers  ;  and  it  was  evidently  not 
in  contemplation  to  reunite  Christendom  on  ascetic 
lines  ;  for  liberal  viands  were  discussed  in  the  room 
below,  where  the  champagne  flowed  freely." 

After  a  summer  holiday  on  the  Broads  and  at  Sher- 
ingham,  where  he  played  a  good  deal  of  golf  with  Mr. 
Augustine  Birrell,  "  who  does  not  play  as  though  it  were 
the  most  serious  business  in  life,  but  enjoys  it,  and  takes 
just  as  much  of  it  as  he  feels  inclined,"  Home  settled 
down  to  a  very  hard  winter's  work.  The  chairmanship 
of  the  London  Congregational  Union,  the  writing  of 
The  History  of  the  Free  Churches,  and  the  claims  of  a  very 
difficult  and  exciting  political  situation  made  heavy 
demands  on  his  time,  already  fully  occupied  by  the 
ordinary  work  of  his  church.  His  health  again  was  not 
what  it  should  be,  and  he  had  been  greatly  depressed  by 
the  sudden  death  of  Mrs.  Edward  Spicer,  one  of  his 
most  staunch  supporters  at  Allen  Street  and  a  very  dear 
friend.  So  we  find  him  writing  to  his  wife  on  one  of  his 
journeys  towards  the  close  of  the  year  :— 

"  I  sometimes  think  I  have  done  all  my  strength  will 
allow  me  at  Kensington.  Indeed,  I  have  been  wondering 
whether  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  take  a  few  months' 
rest,  finish  the  history  quietly,  and  then  go  to  ...  for  a 
few  years  and  try  and  get  built  up  for  some  larger  work 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  127 

and  sphere  later  on.  But  this  is  a  mere  dream,  as  you 
see.  If  I  can  get  my  strength  back  I  will  rejoice  and  be 
glad  and  of  a  good  courage." 

He  had  certainly  no  chance  of  any  such  respite. 
Events  were  brewing  in  the  political  world  which  were 
to  make  even  greater  demands  upon  him  and  tax  his 
powers  to  the  utmost.  The  Education  Bill  of  1902 
roused  his  fighting  spirit  as  nothing  had  done  yet,  and 
brought  him  into  the  forefront  of  the  political  fray.  The 
struggle  had  largely  to  be  sustained  by  the  Noncon- 
formists in  the  country  owing  to  the  confusion  and 
weakness  of  the  Liberal  Party.  This  is  well  illustrated 
by  an  incident  which  took  place  early  in  the  year,  of 
which  he  gives  the  following  account : — 

"  March  5,  1902. — Last  night  there  was  a  meeting  of 
some  interest  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Compton-Rickett,  M.P. 
Some  thirty  Nonconformist  ministers  were  invited  to 
meet  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman.  It  is  clear  that 
the  Liberal  Party  is  near  another  disastrous  split.  Lord 
Rosebery  has  emerged  from  his  Dalmeny  hermitage, 
and  is  making  a  bold  bid  for  a  new  Liberalism  which  is 
to  approve  the  South  African  War,  disavow  Home  Rule, 
and  have  for  its  watchword  '  efficiency.'  It  is  reported 
that  he  refuses  to  entertain  the  idea  of  working  with 
'  C.  B.,'  and  the  meeting  last  night  was  to  discover  what 
prospect  there  was  of  maintaining  Liberal  unity. 
When  I  got  there  late  private  and  confidential  talk  was 
the  order  of  the  day,  and  C.  B.  was  deep  in  conversation 
with  Hugh  Price  Hughes.  There  were  present,  among 
others,  Dr.  Mackennal,  Dr.  Barrett,  R.  J.  Campbell, 
Guinness  Rogers,  Robertson  Nicoll,  Percy  Bunting, 
J.  D.  Jones,  Shakespeare,  Greenhough,  Selbie,  Halley 
Stewart,  Albert  Spicer,  and  Rendel  Harris.  Mr.  Herbert 
Gladstone,  the  chief  Liberal  Whip,  was  there,  and  it  was 
ordered  that  a  report  of  the  proceedings  was  to  be  made 


128  RELIGION    AND    POLITICS 

and  confidentially  kept.  C.  B.  made  a  very  lucid  and 
excellent  speech,  too  much  on  the  '  military  supremacy  ' 
lines  to  please  me,  but  with  an  obvious  desire  to  illus- 
trate Liberalism  in  the  '  settlement '  by  generous  con- 
ciliation and  amnesty  and  respect  for  the  Boer  nation- 
ality. Price  Hughes  was  very  emphatic  in  his  approval, 
and  said  that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  would  agree 
with  Sir  Henry  rather  than  with  Lord  Rosebery.  He 
was  enthusiastic  in  defence  of  Home  Rule,  and  only 
pressed  Sir  Henry  never  to  say  anything  that  would  make 
it  difficult  for  him  to  work  with  Lord  Rosebery  in  the 
future.  Mackennal  made  a  weighty  speech.  Barrett 
recommended  saying  nothing  about  the  war  and  drop- 
ping Home  Rule.  Then  Campbell  did  the  curiously 
infelicitous  thing — proposing  a  resolution  to  the  effect 
that  the  meeting  hoped  that  Lord  Rosebery  would  come 
back  to  lead  the  Liberal  Party,  with  Sir  Henry  as  the 
leader  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Of  course  Sir  Henry 
lightly  replied  that  nobody  had  ever  been  elected  leader 
of  the  Liberal  Party.  He  was  leader  of  the  Commons 
and  Lord  Spencer  was  leader  of  the  Lords  ;  and  '  there 
is  no  vacancy.'  But  he  added  he  personally  was  willing 
to  work  with  Lord  Rosebery  or  under  Lord  Rosebery ; 
and  that  none  who  knew  him  would  doubt  it.  If  ever 
by  some  accident  he  were  brought  within  reach  of  the 
highest  place  in  the  land,  he  would  gladly  devolve  the 
duties  upon  Lord  Rosebery.  This  manly,  modest,  and 
honest  statement  produced  almost  a  sensation,  and  cer- 
tainly created  a  very  fine  impression.  At  this  point 
C.  B.  left ;  and  then  the  discords  developed.  Mr. 
Rickett  told  us  that  Lord  Rosebery  had  said  plainly, 
4 1  can  have  no  communion  with  you,  C.  B.'  This  C.  B. 
had  told  him.  Mr.  Rickett  further  said  that  he  thought 
it  was  a  question  of  a  Whig  ministry,  and  a  Palmerston 
period,  or  else  of  a  more  robust  Liberalism.  His  speech 
produced  a  good  deal  of  feeling.  Shakespeare  practically 
said  it  must  be  Lord  Rosebery  or  a  split.  Robertson 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  129 

Nicoll  said  that  the  Irish  Alliance  had  done  us  no  good, 
and  that  he  dissented  from  every  word  that  Rickett  had 
spoken.  Herbert  Gladstone,  in  a  wise  and  fine-spirited 
speech,  tried  to  throw  oil  on  the  troubled  waters.  But 
the  surges  of  Imperialism  would  not  be  allayed.  Silas 
Hocking  had  expressed  his  absolute  dissent  from  Shakes- 
peare ;  and  the  meeting  ended  with  a  feeling  on  the  part 
of  most  of  utter  hopelessness.  I  have  never  felt  more 
sick  and  weary  and  distressed  than  when  I  rode  home  in 
a  cab  early  this  morning.  Probably  the  same  men  will 
be  invited  to  meet  Lord  Rosebery." 

As  has  often  been  pointed  out,  the  aim  of  the  Educa- 
tion Bill  of  1902  was  not  so  much  the  improvement  of 
education  as  the  relief  of  the  managers  of  church  schools 
from  what  they  regarded  as  an  intolerable  burden.  It 
had  become  evident  that  under  the  voluntary  system 
these  schools  could  no  longer  hope  to  survive  in  competi- 
tion with  the  rate -supported  board  schools.  The  Govern- 
ment therefore  decided  to  use  the  great  majority  obtained 
in  the  khaki  election  in  order  to  secure  rate  aid  for  the 
church  schools.  As  the  aim  and  scope  of  their  pro- 
posals came  to  be  understood,  they  were  hotly  resented 
by  Nonconformists.  The  opposition  to  them  was  led 
by  Dr.  Clifford,  and  he  was  ably  and  enthusiastically 
supported  by  Home.  The  latter  spoke  on  the  subject 
both  at  the  spring  and  autumnal  meetings  of  the 
Congregational  Union.  The  autumn  meetings  were 
held  this  year  at  Glasgow,  where,  after  a  long  discussion 
on  an  official  resolution  calling  for  opposition  to  the  Act 
by  all  legitimate  means,  Home  brought  matters  to  a  head 
by  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  effect  that  "  if  the 
Act  is  forced  upon  the  nation,  the  assembly  is  prepared 
to  advise  its  members  to  refuse  to  pay  the  rate."  He 
supported  his  proposal  in  a  brief  but  most  effective 
speech,  and  carried  it  by  an  immense  majority.  After- 
wards both  he  and  the  assembly  were  subjected  ta  a 
9 


130  RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

good  deal  of  criticism  for  having  taken  so  serious  a  step 
at  the  close  of  a  heated  session.  But  Home  knew  what 
he  was  doing,  and  only  put  into  words  what  the  majority 
of  Congregationalists  were  feeling,  not  only  at  Glasgow 
but  all  over  the  country.  He  had  had  ample  oppor- 
tunity of  judging  their  sentiments,  and  he  realized  that 
the  occasion  called  for  something  more  definite  and 
drastic  than  a  mere  agreement  to  oppose  the  Act. 

"  October  7, 1902. — The  agitation  against  the  Education 
Bill  is  a  tremendous  fact.  With  but  little  lead  from 
our  political  guides,  and  amid  some  confusion  of  tongues 
on  the  part  of  Nonconformist  officials,  there  has  been  a 
mighty  popular  uprising  which  the  oldest  electioneering 
hands  assure  us  is  unprecedented.  Everywhere  the 
meetings  are  magnificent,  and  the  rank  and  file 
enthusiastic  and  resolute.  The  chief  hero  of  the  fight  is 
undoubtedly  Dr.  John  Clifford,  who  has  done  more  than 
any  other  single  person  to  rouse  the  country.  I  came 
upon  him  the  other  day  sitting  on  one  of  the  iron  seats 
in  the  Broad  Walk  in  Kensington  Gardens  writing  for 
dear  life.  There  was  a  pile  of  newspapers  at  his  side,  and 
he  was  immersed  in  correspondence.  '  This  is  my  study,' 
he  said.  '  I  generally  come  out  here  to  write.'  We 
compared  notes  on  the  campaign.  Leeds,  we  agreed, 
had  led  the  nation  ;  and  the  North  Leeds  by-election, 
magnificently  won  by  Mr.  Rowland  Barran,  has  been 
the  feature  of  the  fight  so  far.  Clifford  is  somewhat 
below  medium  height,  and  his  naturally  red  hair — 
beard  and  moustache — has  turned  very  grey.  He  has 
one  of  the  most  childlike  smiles  I  ever  saw,  and  indeed 
is  as  simple  as  a  child  and  as  guileless.  He  was  rejoicing 
over  an  apology  wrung  from  Lord  Halifax,  who  had  ac- 
cused him  of  making  an  improper  use  of  something  Webb 
Peploe  was  reported  to  have  said.  Clifford  pinned  Lord 
Halifax  down  with  a  printed  report  of  Webb  Peploe' s 
words,  and  Lord  Halifax  withdrew  his  imputation.  It 


RELIGION   AND    POLITICS  131 

is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  whole  country  shouted 
for  joy  when  our  dear  old  warrior  '  came  out  top,'  as  the 
Americans  say.     I  could  indulge  in  many  reminiscences 
of  the  big  campaign,  for  it  has  been  my  first  opportunity 
of  proving  my  platform  power  throughout  the  country, 
and  the  result  has  been  somewhat  startling  to  myself. 
*  I  should  like  to  have  you  on  my  side  in  a  revolution,' 
said  Mr.  Henry  Norman  last  night.     At  Glasgow,  where 
our  Congregational  Union  met  this  autumn,  I  intervened 
in  the  Education  discussion  to  move  that  if  the  Bill  be 
forced  upon  the  nation,  the  assembly  would  be  prepared 
to  advise  its  members  to  refuse  to  pay  the  rate.     At  the 
moment  of  my  intervention  we  were  in  grave  difficulties 
over  amendments  which  did  not  say  the  one  thing  it  was 
in  all  our  hearts  to  say.     My  amendment  was  carried 
in  tumultuous  fashion  with  only  six  dissentients.     The 
superior  persons  discredit  this  enthusiasm,  but  I  question 
whether  they  know  the  intensity  of  feeling  in  regard  to 
this  Bill.     Anyhow,  the  Anti-Rate  stand  adopted  by  the 
Free  Church  Congress,  as  well  as  by  the  Baptist  and 
Congregational  Unions,  is  a  note  of  fierce  defiance  to  an 
unconventional    and    unjust    Government    without    a 
parallel  in  our  history.     The  battle  will  and  must  go  on 
now  to  the  bitter  end.     Mr.  Bryce  sent  me  a  very  cordial 
private  letter.     Indeed,  I  have  been  fairly  inundated 
with  them. 

'  While  on  my  Glasgow  travels  I  spent  a  day  with 
Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  at  Brayton,  Cumberland,  and 
addressed  a  meeting  with  him  at  Workington.  He  was 
most  entertaining.  When  I  looked  at  his  magnificent 
home  and  estate  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  if  I  had 
been  born  to  its  inheritance  I  should  probably  have 
settled  down  to  the  pleasant  pursuits  of  a  country  gentle- 
man and  the  amiable  delusions  of  Tory  politics.  Instead 
of  which  Sir  Wilfrid  has  chosen,  all  his  life  through, 
obloquy  and  persecution  and  the  '  skandalon '  of  an 
unpopular  cause.  He  is  a  glorious  old  warrior.  Mr. 


132  RELIGION    AND    POLITICS 

Birrell  described  to  me  once  how  he  used  to  be  about 
the  House  of  Commons  long  after  he  ought  to  have  been 
in  bed,  with  bloodshot  eyes  and  weary  face,  but  refusing 
to  go  home  so  long  as  any  battle  had  to  be  fought  out. 
And  what  a  wit  he  is.  '  Have  you  ever  considered,' 
he  asked  me  soon  after  we  met,  '  the  advisability  of 
having  Bradshaw  read  in  the  schools  without  note  or 
comment  ? '  At  the  meeting  he  was  in  rare  fighting 
form  ;  and  oh,  how  the  men  cheered  him  !  Yet  they 
ejected  him  at  the  last  election,  more  fools  they.  We 
had  to  drive  back  some  eighteen  miles  together,  and  he 
waxed  very  philosophical.  He  discanted  upon  the  im- 
mense monument  of  human  labour  to  be  seen  everywhere 
in  walls  and  houses  and  roads.  You  cannot  cast  your 
eye  anywhere  that  it  does  not  rest  on  the  signs  of  toil. 

"  One  sign  of  the  revival  of  the  progressive  spirit 
in  the  nation  is  the  intense  feeling  everywhere  against 
the  Government  Education  Bill  for  destroying  the  School 
Boards  and  putting  the  denominational  schools  on  the 
rates.  I  am  in  for  a  big  campaign  against  the  Bill,  for 
I  am  to  speak  in  the  Leeds  Coliseum,  the  Manchester 
Town  Hall,  and  the  Birmingham  Town  Hall.  I  was 
honoured  with  an  invitation  to  speak  at  Lord  Rosebery's 
meeting  at  the  Queen's  Hall,  but  it  clashes  with  the  Leeds 
meeting.  The  British  Weekly  .  .  .  has  been  good 
enough  to  refer  to  me  as  incomparably  the  best  platform 
speaker  among  the  young  Free  Church  leaders  !  This 
has  apparently  been  sufficient  to  '  boom '  me  in  the 
country  as  a  speaker  on  this  subject,  and  I  have  been 
deluged  with  letters  and  telegrams.  However,  one's 
tether  is  limited  after  all,  and  I  can  only  do  a  certain 
amount  of  stumping  ;  but  it  is  good  work,  and  I  do  not 
despair  of  wrecking  the  Bill  yet." 

In  the  early  months  of  the  year  1903  it  became  in- 
creasingly evident  that  the  ties  which  bound  Home  to 
Kensington  were  being  loosened.  It  was  not  that  there 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  183 

was  any  slackening  in  the  loyalty  of  his  people  or  any 
diminution  of  the  success  of  his  work.  He  was  as 
happy  as  he  had  ever  been,  but  he  seems  to  have  begun 
to  feel  that  he  might  be  called  to  some  wider  service. 
His  chairmanship  of  the  London  Union  had  given  him 
the  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  needs 
of  the  metropolis.  He  had  made  a  point  of  visiting 
those  parts  of  the  city  on  which  religion  has  least  hold  ; 
he  had  faced  the  problem  of  the  "  down  town  "  churches, 
and  had  been  greatly  impressed  by  what  Newman  called 
"  the  dreary  hopeless  irreligion  "  of  great  multitudes  of 
the  people.  He  was  not  content  with  pressing  the 
problem  on  his  own  church  and  on  the  denomination. 
He  began  to  feel  that  he  must  do  something  himself 
towards  the  solution.  So  when  calls  came  to  him  from 
Horton  Lane,  Bradford,  and  Great  George  Street,  Liver- 
pool—  both  great  churches  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  non- 
churchgoing  population,  he  listened  to  them  with 
sympathy,  though  in  the  case  of  neither  of  them  did  he 
feel  that  it  presented  the  right  kind  of  opportunity  or  a 
claim  that  could  not  be  denied.  At  the  same  time  his 
name  was  being  put  forward  by  some  of  his  friends  in 
the  ministry — notably  by  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Campbell — for 
the  then  vacant  secretaryship  of  the  Congregational 
Union  of  England  and  Wales.  The  union  was  in  process 
of  remodelling  its  constitution,  and  it  was  felt  by  many 
that  a  man  of  Home's  calibre,  with  his  youth,  enthusiasm, 
and  personal  magnetism,  would  be  able  to  do  great  things 
in  the  way  of  inspiring  the  churches  with  a  nobler  sense 
of  their  mission,  and  leading  them  on  to  a  richer  cor- 
porate life.  He  soon  decided,  however,  and  very 
wisely,  that  this  was  not  the  work  for  which  he  was  best 
fitted.  His  opportunity  was  not  long  in  coming. 

Whitefield's  Chapel,1  Tottenham  Court  Road,  had  just 
become  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  its  minister,  the 
Rev.  George  Suttle.  It  is  a  church  that  has  had  a 

1  Whitefield's  "  Tab."  was  in  Old  Street,  E.C.,  at  that  time. 


184  RELIGION   AND    POLITICS 

great  history  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  The  present 
building  is  the  third  to  occupy  the  site  which  was 
originally  given  by  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon  to 
George  Whitefield  for  his  work  in  London.  Among  its 
ministers  have  been  men  like  Matthew  Wilks,  Dr. 
Campbell,  Dr.  Bevan,  Thomas  Nicholson,  and  Jackson 
Wray.  But  the  church  had  fallen  on  evil  days.  Mr. 
Suttle,  a  man  of  energy  and  enthusiasm,  had  carried 
out  a  great  scheme  of  rebuilding  which  had  exhausted 
both  his  own  strength  and  the  resources  of  the  people. 
They  were  left  with  a  crushing  debt  of  some  eight 
thousand  pounds,  with  which  it  was  quite  beyond  their 
power  to  cope  unaided.  It  was  obviously  a  case  for 
some  outside  body  to  intervene  and  take  up  a  burden 
too  heavy  for  the  individual  congregation.  The  London 
Congregational  Union  became  the  Deus  ex  machina 
needed  to  save  the  situation.  They  were  on  the  look- 
out for  opportunities  of  the  kind,  and  no  opportunity 
could  have  been  greater.  The  church  occupied  a  com- 
manding position  in  one  of  the  busiest  thoroughfares  in 
London.  Close  at  hand  were  five  great  railway  stations, 
several  large  business  houses  employing  large  numbers 
of  young  people,  and  a  constantly  changing  population 
living  in  flats,  hotels,  lodgings,  and  boarding-houses. 
On  the  west  side  were  numbers  of  wealthy  families 
living  in  the  squares,  and  on  the  east  a  genuinely  slum 
area  inhabited  largely  by  foreigners.  It  was  an  admir- 
able field  for  the  kind  of  work  done  by  a  central  mission, 
and  the  London  Union  Committee  determined  to  under- 
take it  whenever  they  should  be  able  to  find  the  right 
kind  of  leader.  They  had  their  eye  on  Home  from  the 
first,  and  they  approached  him  about  the  same  time 
that  he  was  being  asked  to  consider  the  secretaryship 
of  the  Congregational  Union.  Of  the  two  projects 
there  is  no  doubt  that  Whitefield' s  was  the  most  attrac- 
tive to  a  man  of  Home's  temperament.  He  had  no 
love  or  aptitude  for  secretarial  work,  but  about  White- 


RELIGION   AND    POLITICS  135 

field's  there  was  a  spice  of  romance  and  adventure  which 
very  strongly  appealed  to  him.  He  made  it  a  condition 
that  the  London  Union  should  make  the  mission  its 
own,  and  when  he  found  that  they  were  prepared  to 
back  him  to  the  utmost,  he  hesitated  no  longer.  He 
wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

"  My  own  mind  has  steadily  been  inclining  to  the 
Whitefield  Tabernacle  scheme,  as  you  know.  Apart 
from  all  considerations  as  to  the  unanimous  offer  of  the 
Secretaryship,  I  feel  that  it  is  not  my  work;  and  the 
other,  I  think,  is.  To  give  a  few  years  to  building  up 
there  a  great  centre  of  Christian  influence  and  activity, 
to  release  it  from  its  present  burdens,  and  give  it  new 
life  and  hope  and  power,  would  be  to  spend  oneself  to 
purpose.  I  think  we  should  all  be  happy  in  doing  it. 
Even  the  prospect  makes  me  glad.  It  is  work  for  the 
people,  in  the  broadest  sense  ;  and  as  such  it  satisfies 
my  ambition.  The  Committee,  too,  to  whom  I  shall 
be  responsible,  consists  of  my  personal  friends.  There 
is  not  one  among  them  whom  I  should  hesitate  to  work 
with — not  one  whom  I  could  wish  away.  I  think  Mr. 
Brown  will  be  as  loyal  as  he  is  generous.  He  recognizes 
the  difficulties,  and  will  not  expect  the  impossible.  But 
he  will  back  me  through  thick  and  thin.  I  can't  say  any 
more.  The  wrench  of  leaving  will  be  very  sore;  but 
I  begin  to  think  it  will  be  as  much  the  best  for  them 
as  for  me.  .  .  ." 

The  burden  of  this  decision  was  not  lightened  by  the 
death  of  Home's  father,  which  took  place  just  at  this 
time.  He  had  been  accustomed  to  look  to  him  for 
advice  and  guidance,  and  he  felt  his  loss  keenly.  He 
writes  just  afterwards  : — 

"  I  have  passed  through  the  most  sorrowful  and  pain- 
ful week  of  my  life.  Early  in  the  morning  of  Wednes- 


136  RELIGION    AND    POLITICS 

day,  March  25,  just  after  midnight,  my  dear  father 
breathed  his  last.  The  same  evening  found  me  in  Ken- 
sington announcing  to  a  crowded  and  sympathetic 
andience  that  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  leave  Allen 
Street  and  accept  the  work  at  Whitefield's  Tabernacle. 
Mv  father's  last  illness  was  somewhat  prolonged,  and  for 
the  last  fortnight  I  was  with  him  most  of  the  time.  I 
kept  the  last  vigil  by  his  side  from  10  to  12  o'clock  on  the 
Tuesday  night,  and  when  I  left  at  midnight  it  was  to  be 
summoned  back  immediately,  for  the  last  change  had 
come,  and  he  just  quickly  and  painlessly  ceased  to 
breathe.  We  have  been  much  comforted  by  the  wonder- 
ful demonstrations  of  the  love  and  honour  in  which  he 
was  held  everywhere.  I  gave  a  brief  address  at  the 
funeral,  but  no  words  can  ever  tell  what  he  was  to  us 
afl.  He  was  so  gentle  and  shy  and  retiring,  and  yet 
so  able  aai  strong  and  true.  He  had  known  religious 
doubt  and  mastered  it,  '  and  found  a  nobler  faith  his 
own.'  This  made  one  incident  of  the  last  days  very 
wonderful  to  me.  In  one  of  his  flashes  of  consciousness 
IK  looked  up  at  me  and  said,  '  I  want  spiritual  rest.' 
4  Do  yon  ? '  I  asked.  '  Yes,'  he  said  ;  and  then  throw- 
ing himself  back  on  his  pillow,  with  a  look  of  content 
be  said,  '  And  I  shall  get  it.'  No  one  can  have  seen 
him  when  death  had  come  and  not  feel  that  he  did 
indeed  get  it.  There  was  a  singular  look  of  satisfaction 
on  his  face,  and  that  aspect  of  wonder  and  wisdom 
which  the  dead  so  often  wear. 

*  The  decision  to  leave  Kensington  has  been  indeed  a 
hard  one  to  make.  The  wrench  involved  is  more  painful 
than  I  can  put  into  words." 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  also  was  published  the 
Popular  History  of  the  Free  Churches,  one  of  the  best  bits 
of  literary  work  that  Home  did.  It  had  a  great  and 
immediate  success,  for  it  supplied  a  real  want,  and  sup- 
pfied  it  just  in  the  right  way.  For  some  years  past  Home 


RELIGION    AND    POLITICS  137 

had  been  studying  the  subject  in  such  spare  time  as  he 
could  find,  and  he  knew  the  ground  well.  But  he  made 
no  pretence  of  original  research,  and  did  not  pose  as  an 
authority  on  disputed  points.  But  he  produced  a  vivid, 
artless,  and  convincing  story  glowing  with  conviction 
and  at  times  even  with  passion.  It  appeared  at  an 
opportune  moment.  Nonconformists  were  in  the  throes 
of  the  struggle  against  the  Education  Act  of  1902,  and 
it  was  good  for  them  to  be  taken  back  to  the  "  hole 
of  the  pit  whence  they  were  digged."  They  found  in 
the  book  a  real  "  tract  for  the  times,"  and  in  its  author 
a  leader  whom  they  delighted  to  honour.  For  himself 
the  book  was  a  kind  of  confession  of  faith,  and  will  hold 
its  own  for  long,  not  merely  as  a  history  of  Noncon- 
formity, but  as  a  most  vivid  and  intelligent  vindication 
of  Free  Church  principles  and  witness. 


CHAPTER  V 

EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

THE  following  extracts  from  his  diary  cover  about  ten 
years  of  the  Kensington  ministry,  and  are  full  of  inter- 
esting side-lights  on  Home's  mind  and  activities  during 
this  period : — 

"  April  24,  1891. — I  have  got  back  from  a  kind  of 
preaching  tour.  Have  been  to  Bristol  (Pembroke 
Chapel),  and  preached  on  the  new  Puritanism  !  Then 
to  Northampton,  where  I  preached  to  the  Association 
in  the  very  chapel  where  my  father  was  assistant  to  the 
Rev.  John  Bennett  many  years  ago.  Then  I  went 
down  to  Shifnal  to  Fred's  farm  and  rusticated  for  a 
couple  of  days,  and  on  the  Sunday  went  over  to  Wolver- 
hampton  and  heard  Berry  preach.  He  was  very  ill, 
having  just  passed  through  a  most  anxious  time  in 
connection  with  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Congregational 
Union.  The  Committee  offered  to  nominate  him. 
There  was  an  outcry  on  the  part  of  a  few  people,  and 
Berry  has  declined  nomination.  All  his  honours  have 
done  nothing  to  spoil  him.  I  stayed  with  him  to 
dinner,  and  had  a  very  festive  chat  about  things  in 
general. 

"  On  the  Monday  I  spoke  at  the  Jubilee  of  the  Brosely 
Chapel ;  Dr.  Newth  l  was  there.  It  was  his  first  charge, 
and  he  had  hard  times  there.  The  place  was  crowded, 
and  we  had  an  excellent  meeting.  I  preached  the 
Jubilee  sermon  on  the  Tuesday,  and  on  the  Wednesday 

1  Principal  of  New  College,  London. 
138 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY    189 

preached  at  home,  returning  here  on  Thursday  to  speak 
at  the  West  District  Association.  So  ends  my  holiday 
tour." 

"  June  5.— I  have  been  preaching  in  the  country  a 
good  deal  lately.  I  find  that  in  a  fortnight  I  have 
preached  fourteen  times  and  delivered  four  speeches. 
I  have  been  to  Hertfordshire,  Sussex,  Shropshire,  and 
Huntingdon.  Everywhere  we  have  had  admirable 
meetings.  This  bringing  of  the  city  into  relation  with 
the  country  is,  I  am  certain,  much  needed.  The  gratitude 
of  the  country  people  is  most  refreshing.  Londoners 
are  wearied  with  sermons,  but  in  the  country  the  people 
really  seem  to  enjoy  them  immensely.  At  St.  Ives  I 
preached  to  the  Huntingdon  Association,  and  had  a  good 
time.  I  heard  from  a  Miss  Goodman  an  amusing  story 
of  one  of  her  Sunday  scholars,  who  expressed  the  wish 
that  a  lion  would  swallow  him.  When  she  appeared 
surprised  and  asked  him  why,  he  said,  '  Because  it 
would  be  such  a  sell  for  that  old  lion  :  he'd  think  I  was 
inside  him  and  I  should  be  in  Heaven  !  ' 

"  Last  night  I  had  my  first  experience  of  speaking  in 
Exeter  Large  Hall.  The  meeting  was  on  behalf  of  the 
National  Refuges.  Lord  Herschell  was  in  the  chair. 
All  the  boys  and  girls — about  1.000 — were  on  the  large 
raised  platform  behind,  and  sang  and  played  famously. 
The  place  was  too  big  for  me  to  speak  comfortably,  and 
I  did  not  enjoy  it  very  much.  Lord  Herschell  seems  a 
delightfully  genial  and  fine  man.  He  is  the  son  of  a 
Congregational  minister." 

"  July  31. — This  diary  is  spasmodic.  Since  I  last 
wrote  the  International  Council  of  Congregationalists 
has  been  held  in  London.  There  were  representatives 
from  all  lands.  The  Americans  were  particularly 
interesting.  I  was  on  the  '  Press '  part  of  the  time, 
writing  an  occasional  sketch  of  a  meeting  for  the 
Independent  and  a  general  account  for  the  Sydney 
Morning  Herald. 


140     EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

"  Since  then  I  have  been  down  to  spend  a  couple  of 
days  with  Mrs.  Raleigh  at  her  home  near  Tring.  Mr. 
Tom  Raleigh,1  of  All  Souls,  Oxford,  was  there.  He  is  a 
very  interesting  fellow,  exceptionally  clever.  At  first 
his  reserved  manner  almost  distresses  one,  but  after  the 
ice  is  broken  he  becomes  the  most  genial  of  companions, 
overflowing  with  interesting  conversation.  In  the 
evening,  when  Mrs.  Raleigh  suggested  a  game  of  Halma, 
he  remarked  dryly,  '  It  always  seems  to  me  a  waste  of 
time  to  play  games  when  you  might  do  nothing.'  He 
has  written  two  or  three  books  on  law  and  politics.  He 
is  a  strong  Unionist. 

"Last  Wednesday  I  was  down  at  a  country  anni- 
versary in  Clavering,  Essex.  We  began  the  afternoon 
service  in  remarkable  fashion  by  a  laudable  but  hardly 
successful  effort  to  sing  a  long-metre  hymn  to  a  common- 
metre  tune.  The  choir  did  their  best,  and  manifested  an 
ingenuity  in  the  curtailment  of  the  long  lines  that  was 
worthy  of  all  encouragement.  Still  their  most  enthusi- 
astic admirers  could  only  describe  the  effort  as  a  qualified 
success.  I  told  Mr.  Walker  about  it,  and  he  said  it 
reminded  him  of  a  certain  lady  organist  who  was  a 
sempstress,  and  who,  when  the  congregation  did  not 
know  a  short-metre  tune  for  a  short-metre  hymn,  chose 
a  long  metre  tune,  but  said  to  the  choir,  '  I  am  afraid 
this  tune  is  too  long  for  the  words  :  we  must  put  a  tuck 
in  it.'  Which  she  proceeded  to  do,  with  gratifying 
results." 

"  September  14. — My  holiday  is  over.  I  have  preached 
again  in  my  own  church,  and  had  an  enthusiastic  wel- 
come. It  is  good  to  be  loved.  It  makes  all  hard  work  and 
difficulty  worth  while.  I  must  confide  in  my  diary  and 
tell  some  of  the  memorable  things  of  my  holiday.  How  I 
enjoyed  it,  to  be  sure  !  Talk  about  school-boys  let  loose 
from  school  !  It  is  nothing  to  a  minister  let  loose  from 
all  engagements  for  a  whole  five  or  six  weeks.  And  then 

1  The  late  Sir  Thomas  Raleigh. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY    141 

Norway  !  Was  ever  air  so  sweet,  people  so  ideal,  and 
hills  so  grand  !  Crossing  the  North  Sea  is,  I  confess,  no 
joke.  To  subsist  for  the  greater  part  of  two  days  on 
the  lesser  part  of  one  biscuit  !  But  it's  all  the  same  an 
hour  after  landing.  The  Fjords  cannot  be  overpraised. 
I  only  wish  we  had  had  more  time  for  them.  But 
perhaps  next  year  we  may  get  back  again. 

"  From  Norway  to  North  Wales.  This  was  a  very 
remarkable  part  of  my  holiday.  I  stayed  in  Llanfair- 
fechan  with  Mrs.  Rylands.  Mrs.  R.  is  a  millionaire  widow. 
She  had  an  enormous  castle  there,  and  a  party  of  some 
sixteen  friends.  I  went  in  fear  and  trembling,  but  it 
was  quite  needless.  She  was  kindness  itself.  A  more 
delightfully  homely  and  hospitable  person  I  have  never 
met.  She  seems  to  live  for  other  people.  What  do  you 
think  of  this  ?  She  takes  a  pseudonym  and  goes  down 
to  Dorset  as  Mrs.  Farmer  to  visit  the  poor  ministers. 
She  proceeds  to  act  the  good  fairy.  Libraries  begin  to 
appear  in  meagrely  furnished  studies,  comforts  of  various 
kinds,  and  all  from  the  same  mysterious  donor.  There 
is  some  trouble  in  that  sort  of  charity.  It  is  not  charity 
by  cheque,  of  which  beware  !  There  I  met  a  delightful 
fellow,  Arnold  Green — son  of  Dr.  Green,  of  the  Religious 
Tract  Society.  A  great  invalid  and  lame,  but  so  witty 
and  bright  and  good.  We  shall  hope  to  meet  often  in 
London.  How  we  behaved  I  am  almost  ashamed  to 
think.  The  riotous  fun  of  that  assembly !  It  was 
indeed  a  good  time.  From  Llanfairfechan  to  Dolgelly 
to  visit  the  Fordhams.  Climbed  Cader,  of  course,  and 
saw  over  the  gold  mines — this  latter  a  somewhat  rare 
privilege.  They  seem  to  find  gold.  But  in  what 
quantities  was  not  so  obvious.  From  Dolgelly  to  the 
Isle  of  Man,  to  preach  on  the  Sunday.  We  had  a 
frightful  passage.  The  waves  swept  the  decks,  but 
I  would  not  go  below.  In  consequence  landed  at 
Douglas  saturated  but  chirpy.  Had  very  good  con- 
gregations and  a  good  time.  Then  home  to  Newport, 


142    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

where  I  preached   at  the  anniversary,   and  then  back 
here.  .  .  . 

"  I  had  a  very  remarkable  talk  with  Dr.  Dale  yester- 
day afternoon.  He  is  just  recovering  from  what  threat- 
ened at  one  time  to  be  a  fatal  illness.  I  shall  never 
forget  how  he  told  me  that  as  he  realized  the  danger 
there  was  an  entire  absence  of  agitation,  but  with  it  an 
almost  entire  absence  of  conscious  sense  of  the  Divine 
Presence.  He  tried  to  fall  back  on  the  Brotherhood  of 
our  Lord,  but  still  there  was  no  conscious  help.  Then 
he  turned  to  him  as  Lord,  and  then,  he  says,  *  the  strength 
came.'  Dr.  Dale  says  he  was  very  much  struck  with 
the  wonderful  support  derived  from  the  more  'austere 
aspect '  of  Christ's  character." 

"  September  18. — I  had  a  singular  difficulty  presented 
to  me  last  night  for  decision.  It  came  from  .  .  .  who 
recently  joined  our  Church.  She  is  a  Board  School 
teacher  in  a  very  good  position,  and  a  young  woman 
of  very  remarkable  force  of  character.  She  began  her 
training  by  going  to  a  very  High  Church  training  college. 
There  she  was  made  to  take  a  vow  never  to  enter  a 
Nonconformist  chapel.  When  she  came  to  Kensington 
and  under  the  influence  of  my  Guild,  she  was  led  to  see 
that  the  promise  was  a  base  one,  and  she  wrote  and  told 
them  that  she  was  not  going  to  be  bound  by  it.  Soon 
after  she  joined  us.  Her  difficulty  now  is  this.  Under 
the  laws  of  the  Board  no  teacher  must  administer  corporal 
punishment.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  the  teachers  do — 
feeling,  she  says,  compelled  by  the  class  of  children  they 
have  to  deal  with.  She  herself  does  it  in  very  extreme 
cases  :  and  says  she  knows  it  would  be  wrong  for  the 
faults  of  the  children  to  go  unpunished,  and  this  is  the 
only  way  of  punishing  them  possible.  At  the  same  time, 
she  feels  she  is  not  keeping  her  contract  with  the  Board. 
And  as  she  would  be  liable  to  a  fine  if  reported  upon,  she 
feels  as  if  she  were  lowering  herself.  Now  she  has 
applied  for  and  is  likely  to  be  appointed  to  the  head 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY    143 

mistress- ship  of  a  small  country  Church  school.  It 
would  be  a  great,  sacrifice  pecuniarily  and  from  the  point 
of  view  of  her  own  tastes  and  future  prospects.  Yet  she 
is  quite  willing  to  do  this  if  it  is  right.  The  question  is 
a  nice  one.  Is  she  sufficiently  keeping  the  spirit  of  the 
Board's  regulation  ?  Or  ought  she  to  leave  for  con- 
science' sake  ?  It  is  one  of  those  questions  people  must 
fight  out  for  themselves.  Of  course  a  less  spiritually 
sensitive  person  would  never  be  troubled  by  the  matter. 
But  she  is  a  very  fine  Christian.  There  is  still  a  possi- 
bility that  when  the  managers  of  this  Church  school  hear 
from  her  that  she  is  a  Congregationalist,  she  will  not  get 
the  post.  [She  did  not  get  it.] 

"  Congregationalists  are  at  a  very  critical  period. 
Our  whole  method  of  management  is  being  severely 
scrutinized  in  our  religious  papers.  The  question  of  the 
villages  and  small  towns  is  a  severe  one.  But  our  main 
difficulty  is  the  want  of  leadership.  .  .  .  and  .  .  .  are 
both  impossible.  Oh  for  an  hour  of  Dr.  Dale  !  Then, 
too,  there  is  a  kind  of  ring  of  Congregational  ministers 
.  .  .  who  object  apparently  to  all  officials,  and  whose 
idea  seems  to  be,  as  Mr.  Walker  says,  that  one  man  is  as 
good  as  another,  and  has  no  business  to  be  better." 

"  December  30. — This  eventful  year  for  me  is  waning 
fast.  I  should  be  inclined  to  say,  '  Old  year,  you  must 
not  go,'  but  for  the  fact  that  the  New  Year  promises  to 
be  a  happier  and  better  one  still.  ...  I  am  about  to 
make  my  first  literary  venture.  Not  much  is  likely  to 
come  of  it  except  a  wider  introduction  to  people  and  a 
few  pounds  out  of  my  pocket.  I  am  going  to  call  the 
book  Discipline  and  Discipleship.  It  will  deal  with 
the  sterner  and  austerer  aspects  of  God's  love,  and  the 
beneficence  of  God's  law.  It  is  nearly  ready  for  the 
press. 

"  Since  I  last  wrote  in  this  diary  Sir  Risdon  Bennett 
has  passed  away.  He  was  for  five  years  the  President 
of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  a  very  learned  man 


144    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY 

and  a  most  noble  and  beautiful  character.  I  saw  a  good 
deal  of  him,  as  he  used  constantly  to  come  into  the  vestry 
after  the  morning  service  and  exchange  a  few  words. 
On  one  occasion  I  remember  I  had  preached  a  sermon 
on  Dr.  Dale's  book  The  Living  Christ  and  the  Four  Gospels, 
and  he  came  in  to  thank  me  and  to  say  how  convinced  he 
was  that  the  defence  of  the  Revelation  must  in  future 
take  that  form.  On  another  occasion  I  had  in  my 
children's  sermon  told  a  story  of  the  wonderful  instinct 
of  pigeons.  He  came  in  full  of  interest  to  tell  me  he 
could  beat  my  stories  completely.  And  then  he  told 
me  some  astounding  facts.  He  was  very  tender-hearted, 
and  I  shall  never  forget  how  distressed  he  was  one 
Sunday  morning  when  he  came  in  before  the  service  to 
see  me.  He  drew  the  door  to  behind  him,  and  then  told 
me  that  he  had  been  sent  by  the  Government  to  examine 
a  Mrs.  Pearcy,  the  Hampstead  murderess,  to  see  if  she 
was  insane.  He  had  been  unable  to  recommend  her 
pardon  on  this  ground,  and  he  told  me  how  all  her  features 
were  good  except  her  mouth,  and  how  quiet  and  self- 
possessed  she  seemed.  The  whole  business  had  greatly 
moved  him.  We  had  a  little  difference  once  at  his  house, 
when  he  strongly  condemned  the  advocacy  of  such 
controversial  subjects  as  disestablishment  in  the  pulpit. 
I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  feel  that  it  was  possible  in  the 
pulpit  to  vindicate  those  positive  truths  on  which  the 
solution  of  this  question  depends  and  show  their  full 
bearing  in  a  way  you  could  not  on  a  secular  platform. 
I  have  often  marvelled  since  at  his  deference  to  the 
opinion  of  a  youngster  like  myself,  but  he  answered  at 
once  emphatically,  '  Yes,  that  is  most  important.'  I 
conducted  the  funeral  service  at  the  New  Weigh  House 
Chapel.  It  was  most  impressive,  and  there  was  a  very 
large  and  distinguished  body  of  physicians  and  others 
present  to  do  him  honour." 

"January  13,  1892. — We  have  begun  another  year. 
At  a  most  impressive  Church  meeting  on  the  last  night 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY    145 

in  1891  we  received  some  seventeen  new  members  with 
great  joy  and  much  prayer.  A  very  full  and  hearty 
prayer-meeting  at  eight  o'clock  on  New  Year's  morning 
auspiciously  inaugurated  1892.  May  the  same  earnest 
spirit  accompany  us  all  through  the  year." 

"  We  had  a  most  energetic  '  Fraternal '  the  other  day 
at  Newman  Hall's.  The  brethren  turned  up  in  force,  and 
the  subject  was  the  Call  of  Abraham.  I  do  not  think  I 
ever  saw  so  clearly  before  the  immense  advantage  the 
friends  of  the  Higher  Criticism  have  in  dealing  with  the 
Old  Testament.  They  derive  precisely  the  same  spiritual 
inspiration,  and  they  are  not  fettered  by  the  necessity 
for  continual  straining  after  harmonies  that  are,  it  seems 
to  me,  impossible.  The  Higher  Criticism  affords  a 
perfectly  candid  and  satisfactory  explanation  of  literary 
difficulties,  and  surrenders  nothing  of  spiritual  and  moral 
teaching." 

"February  4,  1892. — On  Sunday,  the  last  day  of 
January,  Mr.  Spurgeon  died.  We  prayed  for  him  in 
church  that  evening.  On  the  very  evening  that  he  died 
I  was  preaching  a  special  sermon  on  Cardinal  Manning, 
whose  death  took  place  a  fortnight  before,  on  the  same 
day  as  that  of  the  young  Duke  of  Clarence.  So  the 
angel  of  death  has  indeed  been  abroad  in  the  land.  I 
met  Mr.  Spurgeon  only  once,  at  Hackney  College  anni- 
versary. The  main  impression,  next  to  his  kindliness 
to  so  young  a  man  as  myself,  was  of  the  evident  suffering 
he  endured.  I  never  saw  a  face  that  suggested  so 
much  of  suffering.  Both  on  that  occasion  and  when  I 
heard  him  preach  at  Netting  Hill  there  was  an  amazing 
fertility  of  illustration,  almost  amounting  in  parts  to 
anecdotage." 

"  March  2. — .  .  .  We  are  now  going  through  a  series 
of  long  dinners.  Personally  I  hate  them.  They  seem  to 
me  to  be  mainly  occasions  on  which  you  eat  a  great  many 
things  you  don't  want  to  and  say  a  great  many  things 
you  don't  mean.  Their  main  value  is  in  the  testimony 
10 


146    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

to  the  real  kindness  of  people — but  I  hope  the  day  will 
come  when  they  will  show  it  in  a  better  way." 

"  March  12. — I  am  afraid  I  am  in  for  some  fighting. 
The  London  Union  is  certainly  in  extremis.  By  the 
abolition  of  the  principle  of  co-optation  we  have  already 
lost  the  services  of  some  of  the  most  competent  and 
devoted  friends  of  the  Union.  At  our  West  District 
meeting  for  the  election  of  members  to  the  Council  we 
unanimously  carried  a  resolution  in  favour  of  the  restora- 
tion of  this  principle.  I  was  asked  to  move  it  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  London  Union,  and  have  agreed 
to  do  so.  ...  I  am  quite  prepared  to  believe  there  must 
be  a  sharp  battle.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  contemplate 
fighting  with  brethren,  but  it  must  clearly  be  dared  this 
time,  and  so  I  do  not  mind." 

"  March  24. — .  .  .  Yielding  to  the  urgent  solicitations 
of  Alfred  Rowland,1  who  is  President  of  the  London 
Union,  and  entirely  agrees  with  me  as  to  the  co-optation 
principle,!  have  written  to  withdraw  the  notice  of  motion. 
He  felt  very  strongly  that  it  had  better  stand  over  and 
that  a  defeat  just  now  would  mean  even  more  serious 
embarrassments  than  we  have  to  face  already.  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  he  is  wrong  and  that  the  delay  will 
do  us  more  harm,  but  my  respect  for  him  has  prevailed 
over  my  own  judgment." 

"  April  20. — About  a  fortnight  ago  I  paid  a  visit  one 
Sunday  to  Halifax.  Robert  Horton  was  staying  there 
also,  and  so  we  spent  a  good  part  of  the  Monday  together, 
at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Oakes,  whom  he  has  known  from 
boyhood.  Eric  Lawrence,  the  minister  of  Square  Church, 
Halifax,  was  with  us.  Lawrence  is  one  of  the  most 
honest  thinkers  I  have  ever  met,  with  a  very  large  grip 
of  things.  We  had  a  most  interesting  discussion  on 
Revelation — a  subject  on  which  Horton  is  writing  a  book. 
The  book  in  question  will  probably  be  a  great  shock  to 
the  Evangelicals,  as  I  should  gather  Horton  will  deny 

1  The  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Rowland,  minister  at  Crouch  End. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     147 

a  place  in  the  Canon  to  Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  and  possibly 
the  Song  of  Solomon.  We  discussed  the  larger  Bible  of 
Revelation,  which  can  never  be  gathered  into  any  single 
volume.  I  remember  well,  as  we  came  back  from  our 
walk  to  the  house,  Horton,  in  velveteen  coat  and  vest, 
stood  on  the  steps  and  Lawrence  and  I  on  the  walk,  and 
how  we  continued  the  discussion  in  the  twilight,  Horton 
mystical  and  yet  rationalistic  as  ever — so  sure  of  the 
deepest  truths  as  to  be  careless  of  the  mere  letter,  like 
a  man  content  to  throw  away  the  wrappings  of  some 
valuable  parcel  when  he  has  secured  the  thing  contained. 
And  then  how  full  of  fun  he  was,  brimming  over  with 
stories,  and  overflowing  with  pretty  expressions  of 
love  to  Mrs.  Oakes'  little  girl.  He  is  certainly  one 
of  the  most  fascinating  figures  of  the  present  day, 
and  one  would  not  like  to  say  how  far  he  will  go 
or  how  splendidly  he  will  '  arrive  ' — as  Browning  used 
to  say. 

"  Darlow's  Committee  l  is  also  an  interesting  study  of 
personages.  There  is  Evan  Spicer,  the  present  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  to  the  London  County  Council, 
a  very  keen,  shrewd,  and  withal  kindly  man,  who  holds 
so  many  strings  that  one  wonders  he  does  not  pull  the 
wrong  ones  oftener  than  he  does.  He  .  .  .  has  planted 
Polytechnics  in  London  in  an  almost  miraculous  manner, 
and  is  probably  the  most  successful  appealer  to  London 
generosity  that  there  is.  Then  Arnold  Pye-Smith,  a 
capable  administrator  and  most  generous  giver,  very 
tall  and  wearing  a  blue  riband,  solicitous  that  Darlow 
should  have  what  he  wants.2  Con  way,  an  enthusiastic 
young  Cambridge  don,  with  not  a  particle  of  pessimism 
in  him,  viewed  somewhat  with  alarm  by  these  cautious 
business  men.  And  amid  it  all  Darlow  flinging  in  an 
epigram  whenever  the  opportunity  arises — otherwise 

1  The  committee  of  Browning  Hall  Settlement,  Walworth,  of  which 
Mr.  Darlow  was  warden. 

*  Now  Professor  Conway,  of  Manchester, 


148     EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

compiling  industrious  minutes,  and  one  trusts  endeavour- 
ing to  resist  the  temptation  to  allegorize  the  practical 
features  of  the  discussion." 

"  May  2. — Since  I  wrote,  Dr.  Henry  Allon  has  died. 
His  death  was  startlingly  sudden.  It  was  hardly  death 
at  all,  but  a  passing.  Few  figures  were  more  widely 
known  among  Nonconformists.  His  hair  was  snow- 
white  and  his  face  very  noble  and  finely  chiselled.  Three 
or  four  days  before  his  death  he  dined  with  us  at  the 
Sub  Rosa,1  and  was  quite  himself — genial  and  cheery. 
He  came  specially  to  introduce  his  co-pastor — now  so 
speedily  become  his  successor — W.  H.  Harwood.  It 
was  delightful  to  hear  Har wood's  affectionate  and  proud 
references  to  Dr.  Allon.  Just  as  I  was  leaving  Dr.  Allon 
called  me  back  and  shook  hands,  and  said,  '  I'm  coming 
to  preach  for  you  soon.'  How  little  we  know  the  times 
and  seasons  !  One  of  the  most  memorable  times  of  my 
life  was  when  on  one  occasion  I  had  preached  a  missionary 
sermon  at  Union  Chapel.  Dale  was  present,  and  took 
me  home  to  Dr.  Alion's  to  lunch.  Soon  Dr.  Allon  came 
in.  He  had  been  preaching  at  the  City  Temple.  Then 
Dale  and  Allon  smoked,  and  as  they  said  initiated  me 
into  the  history  of  my  forefathers.  The  old  divines  of 
the  denomination  were  passed  in  review,  and  many  were 
the  anecdotes  related.  Allon  in  old  days  wrote  the  Life  of 
Sherman,  a  celebrated  Congregational  preacher,  to  whom 
Dale  traced  his  own  conversion.  The  story  is  a  very 
good  one.8  Sherman  was  preaching,  and  suddenly  Dale 
says  he  forgot  preacher  and  audience  and  everything.  A 
thought  had  come  to  him  and  opened  up  the  new  world 
and  the  new  life.  He  went  out  of  the  chapel  a  changed 
man — hardly  knowing  why.  The  sequel  is  interesting. 
For  years  Dale  did  not  hear  Sherman  again.  Then  he 
took  advantage  of  an  opportunity,  and  went  with  great 
expectation.  He  was  pitiably  disillusioned.  In  the 

1  A  social  club  of  London  ministers. 
»  Cf.  Life  of  Dr.  Dale,  p.  16. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY    149 

course  of  the  sermon  Sherman,  speaking  of  Christ,  said, 
*  Are  you  fond  of  animals  ? — He's  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah  !  Are  you  fond  of  flowers  ? — He's  the  Rose 
of  Sharon  !  Are  you  fond  of  precious  stones  ? — He's 
the  Pearl  of  great  price  ! '  and  so  on,  ad  lib.  And  to 
this  man  the  great  change  in  his  life  was  due  !  It  was 
strange. 

"  I  spoke  the  other  day  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Society  at  Exeter  Hall.  It  was  a 
great  gathering.  I  have  often  said  hard  things  of  the 
acoustic  properties  of  Exeter  Hall,  but  on  this  occasion 
it  seemed  to  be  quite  easy  to  speak.  I  remember  once 
saying  to  Horton  that  the  atmosphere  of  Exeter  Hall 
was  so  heavy  with  a  kind  of  malarial  Evangelicalism 
that  good  sound  heresy  wouldn't  travel !  He  laughed, 
but  on  the  whole  confirmed  the  assertion.  The  Baptists 
are  raising  a  large  Centenary  fund.  This  year  is  the 
100th  year  of  their  society.  By  the  bye,  the  L.M.S. 
income  has  gone  up  £38,000  in  one  year — owing  to  the 
Forward  Movement.  God  is  indeed  reminding  us  that 
we  must  live  and  move  and  have  our  being  in  Him.  So 
many  people  seem  to  live  and  have  their  being,  who 
don't  move" 

"  September  15. — I  have  been  married  more  than  a 
month  :  our  honeymoon  is  over,  and  we  are  *  home  '  at 
last.  I  suppose  other  people  may  have  felt  the  peculiar 
joy  that  we  have  felt,  but  it  is  difficult  to  concede  so 
much.  .  .  .  After  all  joy  is  a  good  thing.  Sorrow  is 
said  to  be  a  good  thing  for  us,  and  no  doubt  is; 
but  joy  is  good  and  love  is  good.  And  God  will 
keep  us  from  selfishness  if  we  rejoice  and  live  in 
Him. 

"  A  very  different  event  must  be  told  now,  showing 
how  strangely  chequered  our  lives  are.  When  we  arrived 
and  were  in  the  first  ecstasy  of  delight,  I  found  a  letter 
from  Mr.  .  .  .  resigning  .  .  .  and  leaving  the  Church. 
This  event  was  not  altogether  unexpected,  still  it  was 


150    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY 

a  saddening  one.  The  fact  remains  that  I  am  the  cause 
of  his  leaving,  and  severing  his  connection  and  breaking 
his  old  cherished  ties.  I  suppose  we  are  hopelessly  apart 
in  matters,  or  rather  in  modes,  of  thought.  And  that  is 
the  curious  thing  that  it  has  been  the  manner,  not  the 
matter,  of  thought  that  has  been  in  question.  The 
sorrowful  part  to  me  is,  of  course,  that  it  is  a  proof  that 
I  have  not  succeeded  in  my  aims  of  being  so  catholic 
in  my  preaching  as  to  appeal  to  all  types  of  mind  and 
schools  of  thought.  Well,  may  God  give  me  more 
grace  and  make  me  more  able  for  this  ministry.  May 
such  wholesome  thoughts  be  the  outcome  of  this 
discipline. 

*'  My  brother-in-law,  Willie  Cozens- Hardy,  with  whom 
I  did  a  good  deal  of  political  speaking  at  Oxford,  is 
certainly  remarkable  for  his  love  of  travelling  into 
unexplored  regions.  Montenegro  and  Dalmatia  are 
happy  hunting  grounds  of  his.  The  mosques  and  their 
priests,  the  churches  and  their  Archimandrites,  are  all 
known  to  him.  He  reappears  after  a  holiday  with  a 
certain  indefinable  flavour  of  the  Eastern  Question. 
He  is  especially  surprised  at  those  of  us  who  prefer  to 
see  one  spot  well  in  our  holidays  than  to  calculate 
blessedness  by  the  number  of  leagues  we  have  journeyed 
and  the  degree  of  barbarism  that  prevails  among  the 
people  we  have  visited.  .  .  . 

"  Lord  Tennyson  is  dead,  and  we  are  all  in  inward 
mourning.  Strange  how  such  a  recluse  was  so  beloved 
by  the  people.  But  his  language  was  clear  and  beautiful, 
and  his  heart  was  shown  enough  to  elicit  the  love  and 
the  trust  of  men.  I  preached  a  sermon  to  show  how  he 
was  the  poet  of  death,  and  read  some  simple  illustrations. 
The  effect  was  very  remarkable.  I  was  reading  just  a  line 
or  two  out  of  the  May  Queen,  and  I  happened  to  look 
down  at  one  in  the  congregation  who  is  not  easily 
moved.  He  was  choking.  The  simplicity  and  tender 
pathos  of  the  lines  were  very  moving. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     151 

"  We  are  all  discussing  the  new  Laureate — who  is 
he  to  be  ?  Our  choice  will  certainly  not  be  the  one 
made.  We  believe  in  William  Watson,  and  anticipate 
a  greatness  for  him  that  will  quite  outrival  his  con- 
temporaries !  Such  fine  touches  as  abound  in  the 
little  he  has  published  prove  him  to  possess  the  poet's 
soul." 

"  January  16,  1893. — The  great  sensation  among  us 
lately  has  been  the  proposal  to  ask  Horton  to  go  to 
Westminster  Chapel  and  lead  a  forward  movement  on 
behalf  of  all  the  Churches  of  London.  The  circumstances 
are  certainly  striking.  After  a  week  of  prayer  that  God 
would  teach  us  our  duty  in  view  of  the  needs  of  London 
to-day,  this  great  opportunity  presented  itself.  West- 
minster Chapel  stands  near  the  centre  of  our  national 
life.  It  is  the  largest  chapel  in  the  denomination.  It 
has  admirable  buildings  attached.  Around  it  lie  both 
rich  and  poor  :  there  are  mansions  and  slums  in  equal 
numbers.  We  have  been  feeling  our  way  gradually 
towards  some  focusing  of  our  scattered  and  isolated 
Independent  Churches ;  some  gathering  up  of  our 
thought  and  feeling  and  faith  and  expressing  of  it  in  a 
more  representative  and  powerful  way  than  we  are  at 
present  able  to  do.  Now  there  is  no  man,  as  we  all  feel, 
who  is  so  much  the  personification  of  the  genius  of 
Congregationalism  as  Robert  Horton.  Hence  here  are 
the  place  and  the  man  apparently  waiting  to  be  married 
by  the  consent  and  at  the  bidding  of  all  the  other 
Churches  of  London.  At  present  we  are  in  the  position 
of  being  about  to  taste  the  feeling  of  our  various  churches 
to  ascertain  if  it  is  their  wish  that  Horton  should  be  asked 
to  go.  He  naturally  wishes  to  dissociate  his  own 
name  from  the  movement.  But  we  all  feel  we  cannot 
present  a  scheme  to  the  Churches  ;  we  want  a  living 
personality." 

"  February  7. — Dr.  Stoughton  has  just  been  in  to  see 
us.  He  is  85  years  of  age,  but  full  of  interesting 


152    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

reminiscences.  He  spoke  of  his  friendship  for  Matthew 
Arnold.  *  He  was  a  good  fellow,'  he  said,  *  but  oh,  as 
I  used  to  tell  him,  what  fights  I  had  with  my  brethren 
to  get  them  to  think  so !  I  used  to  say  to  them,  "  You 
look  at  Matthew  Arnold  through  his  books  :  but  I  look 
at  his  books  through  Matthew  Arnold,  and  that  makes  all 
the  difference."  '  It  seems  that  once  Dr.  Stoughton  said 
to  Dean  Stanley,  '  You  know  I  am  not  a  person  of  great 
learning.'  '  No,'  said  the  Dean,  '  Matthew  Arnold  tells  me 
the  same  thing.  "  You  are  not  a  man  of  great  learning," 
he  says,  "  but  you  are  a  man  of  extensive  information." 
Tap  Dr.  Stoughton  on  the  subject  of  the  old  members 
of  the  '  Sub  Rosa,'  and  he  flows  freely.  I  can  see  he 
has  his  suspicions  that  there  are  no  men  of  equal 
character  living  to-day.  He  delights  to  tell  of  a  certain 
old  minister,  who  edited  John  Owen's  works,  who  used 
to  say  with  delicious  frankness,  '  Well,  I  have  emptied 
two  meeting-houses,  and  by  the  help  of  Providence  I 
think  I  see  my  way,  if  I  am  spared,  to  empty  a  third.' 
The  Evangelical  Magazine,  which  Dr.  Stoughton  edited 
for  some  fifteen  years,  exists  to  help  by  its  profits  the 
widows  of  ministers.  The  '  staff '  dine  together  once 
a  year,  and  Dr.  Stoughton  tells  how  James  Parsons, 
in  his  after-dinner  speech,  would  humorously  say  that 
it  was  difficult  to  reconcile  his  conscience  to  the 
entertainment,  for  he  *  always  felt  that  he  was  devouring 
widows'  houses.' 

"  Horton,  I  fear,  has  quite  decided  not  to  leave 
Hampstead.  The  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  him  by 
his  church  has  availed  to  persuade  him  that  it  cannot 
be  his  duty  to  go.  If  that  is  his  settled  conviction, 
he  is  a  fixture  for  life  :  for  obviously  the  time  will  never 
come  when  his  church  will  be  anxious  for  him  to  leave. 
Anyhow,  for  the  present  we  must  abandon  our  idea  of  a 
large  central  movement." 

"  June  1893. — Another  long  gap  in  my  diary.  Events 
have  moved  rapidly,  though  they  have  not  provoked  me 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     158 

to  chronicle  them.  The  House  of  Commons  has  been 
engaged  in  a  deadly  struggle  to  force  the  Home  Rule  Bill 
through  Committee.  After  weeks  and  weeks  of  talk  and 
divisions  they  have  wrestled  their  way  up  to  the  fifth 
clause,  and  the  Government  majority  holds  together 
magnificently.  Meanwhile  domestic  interests  outweigh 
for  me  the  most  tremendous  national  ones.  .  .  .  Nothing 
in  life  is  so  strangely  and  deliciously  true  as  the  capacity 
of  love's  expansion.  You  think  at  marriage  you  have 
tasted  the  utmost  delights  of  it.  You  cannot  conceive 
that  it  can  ever  be  more  ravishing.  You  are  prepared 
for  some  depreciation  of  intensity  when  it  becomes  the 
constant  element  in  which  life  is  lived.  But  so  far  is 
this  from  being  true  that  each  new  day  you  awake  to  a 
richer  content  of  your  love — you  rejoice  over  some  new 
satisfaction  in  it. 

"  It  is  curious  that  I  should  not  have  written  anything 
in  my  diary  about  our  celebration  of  the  Centenary  of 
Kensington  Chapel,  or  the  Tercentenary  of  the  Congre- 
gational Martyrs  Barrowe,  Greenwood,  and  Penry.  In 
commemoration  of  the  latter  the  Congregational  Union 
issued  a  series  of  tracts,  and  I  wrote  one  on  the  Separ- 
atists in  the  Universities.  For  this  I  had  the  honour 
of  being  roundly  abused  in  the  Church  Times.  They 
did  not  accuse  my  accuracy,  but  only  my  conclusions. 
I  wrote  a  somewhat  fiery  reply  to  them  in  the 
Independent,  and  the  controversy  ceased.  On  April  8 
we  had  a  mass  meeting  in  Hyde  Park,  attended  by 
some  15,000  people,  mainly  young  Congregationalists. 
Pierce,  Mearns,  and  I  did  most  of  the  organizing,  and 
the  assembly  was  a  gigantic  success." 

"  September  1894. — We  have  had  a  remarkable 
struggle  in  London  over  the  election  of  the  School  Board. 
The  old  Board  had  endeavoured  to  upset  the  existing 
compromise  on  the  subject  of  religious  teaching.  Led 
by  Mr.  Athelstan  Riley,  the  Board  decided  to  issue 
a  circular  to  all  the  teachers  instructing  what  Christian 


154    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

doctrines  they  were  to  teach,  defining  the  Trinity,  and 
so  on.  At  this  there  was  naturally  a  great  uproar. 
Nearly  all  the  press  took  the  side  of  the  teachers  against 
the  Board.  For  more  than  a  year  the  struggle  went  on, 
growing  in  bitterness  week  by  week.  Then  the  election 
came  ;  and  it  was  very  curious  to  see  how  we  fought 
on  the  old  Catholic  and  Protestant  lines.  Our  side  urged 
that  the  Bible  should  be  trusted  to  tell  its  own  story 
and  teach  its  own  doctrines.  Their  side  said,  No, 
it  needs  to  be  explained  by  a  circular.  In  the  end  our 
men  were  returned  by  tremendous  majorities  all  over 
London,  but  by  the  absurd  cumulative  vote  system  we 
have  not  quite  secured  a  majority  on  the  Board.  But 
we  have  effectually  cut  their  claws. 

"  The  autumnal  meetings  of  the  Congregational  Union 
were  held  at  Liverpool.  As  President  of  the  Guilds' 
Union,  I  had  to  take  the  chair  at  the  Guilds'  meeting. 
But  the  more  formidable  necessity  was  to  speak  at  a  vast 
Centenary  meeting  of  the  L.M.S.  in  the  Philharmonic 
Hall,  which  was  crowded  with  4,000  people." 

"  March  1895. — A  good  deal  of  time  has  recently  been 
consumed  in  a  tour  for  the  L.M.S.  The  largest  meeting 
of  the  tour  was  the  one  held  in  the  Free  Trade  Hall, 
Manchester,  where  some  6,000  people  were  present. 
The  meeting  was,  I  think,  a  success.  Gibbon  l  was  there, 
and  delivered  what  was  certainly  a  brilliant  speech, 
scintillating  with  wit  and  illustration.  I  got  through, 
but  not  having  had  time  to  prepare  elaborately,  I  did 
not  get  on  so  well  as  I  might  have  done.  Since  this 
meeting  I  have  been  to  Manchester  again,  for  the 
Guilds,  and  have  had  a  notable  experience.  Percy 
Alden  was  in  the  north  at  the  time,  sounding  a  few 
people  as  to  a  new  scheme  for  building  residences  in 
connection  with  Mansfield  House.  The  residences  are 
indispensable.  We  must  have  them.  The  only  question 
was  whether  now  is  the  best  time.  Well,  he  asked  me 
1  The  Rev.  J.  Morgan  Gibbon,  of  Stamford  Hill. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     155 

whether  I  thought  he  might  come  up  and  put  the  case 
before  Mrs.  Rylands.  I  said  yes  ;  and  when  I  told  her, 
she  expressed  herself  as  glad  that  I  had  done  so.  In  due 
time  Alden  arrived,  and  we  had  our  interview.  Percy 
stated  his  case  admirably,  and  I  could  see  at  once  that 
he  had  made  a  good  impression  and  that  she  liked  him. 
Suddenly  he  made  his  plunge.  He  said  it  had  entered 
into  his  mind  that  Mrs.  Rylands  might  like  to  build  the 
residences  herself.  It  was  a  bold  but  excellently  planned 
manoeuvre.  She  gave  a  little  laugh,  and  I  threw  out 
the  remark  that  Alden  was  a  modest  man.  For  just 
one  moment  I  thought  she  was  going  to  do  the  business. 
Then  in  her  most  kind  and  gracious  way  she  turned  to 
Alden  and  said  she  did  not  suppose  he  knew  how  full 
her  hands  were  just  now  ;  but  she  was  much  interested, 
and — she  would  give  him  two  thousand  pounds ! — 
I  nearly  got  up  and  executed  a  schottische !  " 

"  May  1895. — I  have  recently  had  a  very  nasty  ner- 
vous breakdown.  I  was  first  conscious  that  something 
was  wrong  about  April  7,  when  I  had  considerable  diffi- 
culty in  getting  through  the  service  at  night.  On  the 
14th,  the  day  before  my  thirtieth  birthday,  I  collapsed. 
How  I  got  through  in  the  morning  I  hardly  know,  but 
it  was  by  dint  of  hanging  on  to  the  pulpit  with  both 
hands.  At  night  a  student  preached,  and  next  day  I 
went  away  to  Cromer.  There  I  stayed  for  three  Sundays, 
and  have  only  been  able  to  take  one  service  a  Sunday 
since.  As  yet  I  have  by  no  means  got  back  my  tone, 
but  I  am  greatly  better,  and  I  think  steadily  mending. 
My  people  have  been  more  than  kind  :  they  have  over- 
whelmed me  with  demonstrations  of  their  love  and  good- 
ness. The  moral  seems  to  be  that  the  pace  has  been  too 
great,  and  that  for  a  time  I  must  be  content  to  rest 
on  my  oars  and  only  give  an  indolent  tug  or  two 
occasionally." 

"  June  1895. — A  very  remarkable  story  comes  from 
Oxford,   which  should  have  peculiar  interest  for  the 


156    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

author  of  A  Modern  Heretic.  It  concerns  first  of  all  a 
Mr.  R.  J.  Campbell,  who  was  sent  up  to  Christ  Church  by 
his  parents  to  read  for  orders.  He  came  of  good  family, 
and  his  force  of  character  won  for  him  a  prominent 
position  at  Ch.  Ch.  as  President  of  the  '  Cabinet  Club.' 
He  seems  to  have  exercised  a  remarkable  influence  over 
the  men  with  whom  he  came  in  contact ;  in  fact,  his 
influence  has  been  compared  to  that  of  Wesley.  After 
two  years  or  so  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  could 
not  honestly  enter  the  English  Church.  His  parents 
were  furious,  and  he  had  much  to  bear  from  his  friends  ; 
but  he  remained  firm.  On  one  occasion  when  down  at 
Brighton,  he  was  asked  to  take  a  service  at  Union  Con- 
gregational Chapel.  He  did  so,  and  the  people  were 
greatly  impressed.  They  pressed  him  to  preach  again, 
but  he  refused,  saying  that  he  had  not  made  up  his  mind, 
and  it  would  be  unfair  to  them  to  encourage  hopes  that 
might  come  to  nothing.  So  he  returned  to  his  work 
at  Oxford.  Among  those  over  whom  he  had  a  great 
influence  was  a  young  fellow  named  H.,  the  son  of 
a  reputed  millionaire  in  Liverpool.  He  had  been  sent 
to  Oxford  to  read  for  politics.  At  Ch.  Ch.  he  was  every- 
thing that  was  rowdy  and  dissipated,  but  coming  under 
the  influence  of  Campbell  he  became  a  changed  man,  and 
soon  began  to  think  of  a  religious  life  such  as  Campbell 
seemed  likely  to  embrace.  His  parents  laughed  the 
proposal  to  scorn,  and  told  him  that  they  would  have  no 
nonsense.  He  had  been  educated  for  politics,  and  into 
politics  he  must  go.  So  things  went  on,  until  just  before 
the  end  of  their  course  Campbell  called  a  number  of  his 
friends  together  and  reminded  them  that  they  had 
arrived  at  a  time  when  their  life  work  must  be  decided 
upon.  He  proposed  that  they  should  hold  a  prayer- 
meeting.  They  consented,  and  a  very  wonderful  meeting 
was  held  in  C.'s  rooms.  At  the  end  H.  rose  and  an- 
nounced his  determination  to  go  straight  home  to  his 
parents.  He  went,  laid  the  whole  matter  before  them, 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     157 

and  to  his  great  delight  they  consented.  They  returned 
with  him  to  Oxford,  where  they  had  an  opportunity  of 
hearing  Campbell  preach  on  Sunday  in  the  Wesleyan 
Chapel.  At  the  end  of  the  service  they  told  their  son 
they  could  wish  nothing  better  than  that  he  should  be  a 
man  like  that.  If  he  embraced  a  similar  career  he  should 
not  suffer  financially,  but  should  have  all  the  money  he 
needed.  Well,  the  end  of  the  matter  was  that  Campbell 
preached  again  at  Brighton,  and  was  unanimously  and 
enthusiastically  called  to  the  ministry.  H.  wrote  to 
the  church  and  said  that  he  was  anxious  not  to  leave 
Campbell,  and  offered  to  become  assistant  at  his  own 
charges  and  to  undertake  any  mission  work  for  which  he 
might  be  deemed  fitted.  These  two  young  men  are  to 
be  ordained  on  July  11.  I  was  asked  to  take  part  in 
the  service,  but  expect  to  be  out  of  England  at  the  time. 
One  who  heard  Campbell  preach  told  me  he  was  like 
one  of  the  Passionist  Fathers  !  .  .  ." 

"  September  1895. — My  holiday  this  year  has  been  a 
long  one — two  whole  months  spent  in  Norway  and  Nor- 
folk. To  Norway  I  went  with  Johnnie  Fordham,  a 
most  delightful  companion,  of  refreshing  vivacity  and 
unconventionality.  He  is  a  regular  boy,  and  his  over- 
flowing spirits  made  him  exceedingly  popular  with 
everybody.  Oh,  but  all  the  charms  of  Norway  do  not 
compensate  for  the  absence  of  dearer  charms  ;  and  it  was 
like  returning  to  Paradise  must  be  to  angels  who  have 
been  visiting  fair  spots  on  earth." 

"  New  Year,  1896. — My  wife's  grandmother,  Mrs. 
Hepburn,  died  at  the  phenomenal  age  of  95,  and  then  my 
grandfather,  Mr.  Simpson,  died  aged  83.  Both  grand- 
parents were  born  on  the  5th  of  November,  a  somewhat 
curious  coincidence.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  my 
grandfather  was  a  very  remarkable  man,  and  that  we 
all  who  are  so  fortunate  as  to  be  his  descendants  owe 
much  to  him.  A  poor  lad,  he  worked  his  way  up  to  be 
Superintendent  of  the  Government  Tobacco  Warehouses 


158     EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

in  Liverpool,  the  largest  warehouses  of  the  kind  in  the 
world.  This  was  a  post  of  great  responsibility,  and  the 
way  in  which  he  entered  upon  it  may  be  judged  from  the 
fact  that  while  up  to  that  time  he  had  been  a  considerable 
smoker,  he  forswore  tobacco  henceforth.  This  was  to 
avoid  even  the  appearance  of  being  likely  to  use  the 
warehouses  to  fill  his  own  pipe.  He  was  almost  or  quite 
the  best  company  I  ever  met,  and  when  he  was  well  he 
enjoyed  a  good  story  with  immense  zest.  He  had  a 
natural  gift  of  exaggeration — perhaps  I  ought  to  say  imag- 
ination. His  stories  grew  in  the  handling,  and  we  boys 
always  used  to  be  on  the  qui  vive  to  note  the  additions  to 
an  old  friend.  It  is  curious  to  reflect  how  much  of  the 
development  of  Liverpool  and  the  whole  Transatlantic 
trade  was  covered  by  my  grandfather's  life.  He  lived 
from  early  days  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Mersey,  and 
used  to  cross  to  business  in  an  open  boat.  The  steam- 
ship was  yet  to  come.  He  was  also  present  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  railway,  and  used  to  describe  graphically 
the  tragic  death  of  Mr.  Huskisson.  Intensely  alive,  he 
never  missed  being  present  at  any  important  function, 
the  inauguration  of  any  new  enterprise. 

"  Another  remarkable  characteristic  was  his  insatiable 
curiosity.  I  mean  this  in  the  best  sense.  He  would 
know  the  insides  of  things  as  well  as  the  outsides.  He 
went  through  life  a  learner — disciple  to  the  humblest 
and  poorest  who  had  anything  to  teach  him,  '  hearing 
them  and  asking  them  questions.'  Sailors  were 
especial  favourites,  and  of  course  he  was  much  thrown 
among  them.  The  consequence  was  that  he  had  an 
immense  store  of  miscellaneous  information,  especially 
on  two  great  main  lines,  scientific  and  geographical. 
He  lost  a  lot  of  money  on  shares  in  new  inventions  of  a 
scientific  character  :  when  these  shares  were  examined 
after  his  death  nearly  all  the  ideas  were  good  ones.  As 
for  his  purse,  it  was  always  open  to  help  on  any 
likely  lad  who  seemed  to  have  a  gift  of  any  kind. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     159 

Scores  of  men  in  good  positions  to-day  look  back  with 
gratitude  to  his  ready  help  at  the  time  of  their  early 
struggles. 

"  He  had  a  great  gift  in  Sunday-school  addresses. 
We  used  to  say  the  morals  of  some  of  these  addresses 
were  not  quite  obvious.  But  they  were  vivid  beyond  de- 
scription. Intensely  dramatic,  he  would  make  the  scene 
he  was  describing  thrillingly  real,  and  would  often 
heighten  the  appeal  by  dropping  suddenly  into  the  first 
person  singular,  and  '  identifying  himself  with  the  hero 
of  the  story '  as  it  was  once  put.  This  gave  him,  I 
believe,  an  awful  place  in  the  regard  of  some  of  the 
children,  who  really  thought  he  had  himself  sustained 
amazing  and  heartrending  adventures. 

"  Surely  one  of  the  most  interesting  things  to  parents 
must  be  the  introduction  of  their  children  to  biblical 
and  kindred  books.  My  little  Dorothy  is  just  at  this 
fascinating  stage.  She  has  an  inherited  love  for  the 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  is  never  tired  of  following  the 
progress  of  Christian.  Some  of  the  questions  she  asks 
are  by  no  means  easy  to  answer  so  as  to  assist  her  com- 
prehension. '  What's  in  that  bundle  ?  '  she  demanded 
as  soon  as  she  saw  it.  My  wife  invented  an  answer  that 
was  certainly  very  subtle.  '  His  old  clothes,'  she  said. 
If  the  reference  was  to  his  old  discarded  habits  and  views 
it  was  a  good  reply.  Dorothy  was  much  concerned  for 
poor  Christian  when  he  lost  his  bundle.  She  evidently 
felt  he  would  be  inconsolable,  and  found  it  difficult 
to  sympathize  with  his  obvious  delight.  You  can  never 
tell  beforehand  what  view  children  will  take.  I  showed 
her  a  picture  of  Joseph  being  put  in  the  pit,  and  said, 
'  Would  Dorothy  like  to  be  put  in  that  dark  hole  ? '  '  Yes,' 
she  said  at  once  with  the  greatest  gusto  ;  and  seemed 
disappointed  that  I  carried  the  proposal  no  further.  In 
talking  to  children,  too,  you  have  to  use  great  contrasts 
of  light  and  shade.  People  are  either  good  or  naughty. 
Dorothy  has  no  opinion  of  anyone  who  is  not  either  one 


160    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY 

or  the  other.  You  must  be  able  without  hesitation  to 
assign  them  to  one  of  these  two  categories.  She  is  of 
course  perfectly  orthodox  as  to  the  desirability  of  being 
good.  Judas  and  the  Sanhedrim  were  all  described 
to  her  as  being  naughty.  '  Isn't  it  sad  ? '  she  said. 
And  indeed  she  seemed  to  think  so." 

"  March  16,  1896. — This  day  is  likely  to  be  a  very 
black-letter  one  in  my  calendar.  This  morning,  in  com- 
pany with  Dr.  Batten  and  my  brother  Fred,  I  waited 
on  Dr.  Goodhart,  one  of  the  leading  London  physicians, 
at  his  house  in  Portland  Place.  Dr.  Goodhart  is  a  very 
fine-looking  man,  and  his  manner  impresses  you  with 
confidence.  He  made  a  very  minute  and  prolonged 
examination  of  me,  and  pronounced  emphatically  that 
there  was  no  disease  anywhere  traceable.  Arguing 
from  this  that  my  nervous  exhaustion  was  due  to 
over-strain,  he  ordered  twelve  months'  entire  cessation 
from  public  work.  Dr.  Batten  entirely  confirms  this 
judgment ;  and  consequently  I  had  no  alternative 
but  to  sit  down  and  write  my  resignation  to  the 
church." 

"  April  15,  1897. — To-day  I  am  thirty-two  years  old, 
and  the  last  two  years  have  been  somewhat  painful  ones, 
despite  all  the  sunshine  that  has  come  in  to  them  from 
the  love  of  friends.  It  is  far  from  easy  to  acquiesce  in 
a  medical  verdict  which  would  impose  upon  one  that 
very  hardest  of  all  duties — the  duty  of  half-a-life.  It 
is  curious  how  hard  such  duty  seems.  In  a  sense  it 
means  relief  from  many  obligations  and  burdens  :  but 
it  means  also  discontinuance  of  work  which  has  come 
to  be  dear  as  life  itself.  And  this  at  thirty-two  !  How- 
ever, it  is  open  to  me  to  disbelieve  the  doctors.  I  have 
never  before  felt  how  great  is  the  relief  of  unbelief — 
downright,  indomitable  scepticism.  Certainly  faith  in 
this  instance  is  associated  with  the  paralysis  of  life,  and 
unbelief  with  its  fulfilment. 

"  Do  I  intend  to  rebel  against  these  medical  wiseacres  ? 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY    161 

Not  at  present.  I  am  back  at  work,  and  I  intend  to  go 
along  quietly  and  see  how  I  get  along.  But  it  is  on  the 
carpet  that  I  may  kick  if  their  government  becomes  too 
benevolent  and  paternal." 

"  Friday,  August  13, 1897. — I  bought  this  diary  to-day 
at  Whiteley's,  my  old  one  being  now  full,  and  I  write 
these  few  lines  just  by  way  of  inauguration.  It  is  a 
genuine  pleasure  to  me  to  write  in  my  diary,  though  I 
refuse  to  feel  compelled  to  write  at  regular  periods. 
Why  does  the  flesh  rebel  against  necessity,  when  itself 
is  compassed  about  with  necessities  which  it  cheerfully 
and  gratefully  fulfils  ?  Anyhow,  to  add  to  life's  neces- 
sities seems  to  be  a  mistake.  It  is  to  provoke  opposition 
and  defiance.  Now  I  do  not  want  the  flesh  or  the  spirit 
to  rebel  against  diary-keeping ;  so  I  try  to  harmonize 
the  recreation  with  my  moods,  and  thus  secure  it  as  a 
solace  and  refreshment,  not  a  task  or  unwelcome 
duty. 

"  By  the  bye,  I  perpetrated  an  epistolary  impertinence 
last  week,  publicly  expressing  my  own  lack  of  confidence 
in  Sir  William  Harcourt  as  a  Liberal  leader  ;  and  indeed 
the  whole  Front  Bench  is  a  broken  reed.  The  facts  are 
these.  A  House  of  Commons  Committee  sat  for  enquiry 
into  these  tangled  South  African  affairs.  The  revelations 
made  were  very  painful,  especially  in  connection  with 
Mr.  Rhodes  ;  but  the  revelations  made  only  pointed  to 
worse  ones  that  might  be  made.  Hereupon  the  Com- 
mittee seems  to  have  resolved  to  hush  up  the  whole 
affair.  Chamberlain  managed  things  with  a  high  hand, 
as  usual ;  and  to  the  utter  dismay  of  the  Liberal  Party 
Sir  William  Harcourt  and  other  Liberal  representatives 
on  the  Committee  acquiesced.  The  Report  of  the  Com- 
mittee convicted  Rhodes  of  the  most  execrable  offences 
against  this  country — sheer  treason  in  fact ;  nevertheless, 
Chamberlain  actually  got  up  in  the  House  and  declared 
that  Rhodes'  personal  '  honour '  was  unstained.  This 
extraordinary  assertion  was  left  unchallenged  by  the 
11 


162    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

Front  Opposition  Bench.  I  wrote  to  the  Independent,  I 
confess  in  much  heat,  to  protest  that  as  Liberals  we  had 
been  betrayed  by  our  Leaders.  Harcourt  emphatically 
supported  Chamberlain  ;  and  the  latter  whitewashed 
and  indeed  glorified  Rhodes — a  man 

'  Whose  honour  rooted  in  dishonour  stood 
While  faith  unfaithful  kept  him  falsely  true.' 

All  the  Press  is  against  the  Liberal  leaders,  and  Non- 
conformists are  generally  indignant.  Over  seventy 
Liberal  Members  of  Parliament  voted  against  their 
leaders  in  the  House  of  Commons  debate." 

"  September  8,  1897. — The  beginning  of  our  holiday 
this  year  was  spent  at  Letheringsett,  and  one  of  the 
special  attractions  was  the  presence  of  Dr.  Ray  Palmer. l 
I  think  the  more  one  sees  of  Dr.  Palmer  the  more  one 
is  impressed  by  him.  He  is  a  man  who  has  been  through 
experiences  that  we  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  can 
scarcely  credit.  For  instance,  having  had  a  breakdown 
in  health  on  leaving  college,  he  went  as  tutor  to  a  planter's 
children.  When  the  planter  was  away  from  home  he 
was  left  in  charge,  and  had  to  run  the  slave  plantation. 
This  position  soon  brought  him  into  conflict  with  the 
overseers  ;  and  he  told  us  an  almost  inconceivable  tale 
of  how  an  overseer  tried  to  shoot  down  one  of  the  hands, 
because  the  man  had  refused  to  beat  his  own  wife. 
Ray  Palmer  faced  the  overseer  with  a  loaded  pistol  and 
saved  the  man's  life ;  but  the  planter  remonstrated  subse- 
quently with  him  for  '  interfering  with  discipline.'  Dr. 
Palmer's  stories  of  the  Civil  War  are  most  graphic  and 
thrilling.  I  think  I  shall  never  forget  the  account  he 
gave  us  one  night  of  Gettysburg,  and  some  other  fights. 
He  himself  was  drafted  for  service,  and  was  about  to 
give  up  his  church  and  go,  when  the  church— unknown 
to  him— petitioned  for  his  discharge  on  the  ground 

1  An  American  Congregational  minister,  author  of  some  well-known 
hymns. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     163 

that  no  one  would  be  left  in  the  district  to  bury  the 
dead. 

"  We  had  a  visit  at  Letheringsett  from  Captain  Kane, 
who  earned  much  kudos  from  the  way  in  which  he 
brought  the  man-of-war  Calliope,  of  which  he  was  in 
charge,  out  from  Samoa  in  the  teeth  of  a  tornado  which 
drove  several  other  vessels  on  to  the  reefs.  Captain  Kane 
is  medium  height,  with  iron-grey  beard  and  hair,  promi- 
nent eyebrows  over  grey- blue  eyes.  He  had  much  that 
was  interesting  to  tell  us  about  the  sea,  and  this  fact 
about  the  Navy  which  impressed  me  :  Government  gets 
practically  no  recruits  for  the  Navy  from  the  sea- border, 
but  from  such  inland  provincial  towns  as  Birmingham 
or  Manchester.  The  reason  seems  to  be  that  men  born 
near  the  sea  follow  the  ordinary  sea  callings  of  trading 
and  fishing.  They  have  their  homes  ashore,  marry  and 
settle  down,  and  do  not  care  to  go  right  away  for  long 
periods,  as  men  in  the  Navy  must. 

"  We  are  staying  at  Sheringham,  and  the  other  day  we 
witnessed  from  our  window  the  most  singular  sight  of  a 
waterspout.  A  very  dark  cloud  hung  over  the  sea  ;  and 
at  one  end  of  the  cloud  there  was  an  arm  like  an  elephant's 
trunk.  This  arm  hung  right  down,  and  you  could  dis- 
tinctly see  the  cloud  of  vapour  beneath  it  as  it  poured 
its  deluge  into  the  sea.  The  sea  was  tremendously 
agitated  beneath  it,  boiling  up  with  great  violence. 
There  was  a  number  of  ships  in  the  direction  of  the  water- 
spout, but  as  far  as  we  could  see  they  avoided  it.  It 
moved  rapidly  along  before  the  wind,  and  finally  dis- 
appeared. Certainly  it  was  an  interesting  and  rather 
awful  sight." 

"  February  1,  1898. — This  must  be  the  mildest  winter 
within  the  memory  of  man.  We  had  two  or  three  days 
of  frost  at  Christmas,  but  no  snow,  and  a  January  like 
April.  Snowdrops,  crocuses,  and  even  anemones  are 
out,  and  the  early  bushes  are  quite  green.  And,  as 
many  mild  seasons  are,  it  is  desperately  unhealthy.  I 


164    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

have  never  known  more  illness.  Mr.  Walker  is  very  ill ; 
I  fear  dying.  I  cannot  bear  to  think  what  a  void  in  my 
life  his  death  will  make.  He  has  been  a  father  indeed  to 
me  ;  and  as  long  as  there  is  hope  I  shall  cling  to  it,  that 
he  may  be  spared  to  us  longer. 

"  One's  children  become  the  surest  instruments  for 
measuring  time  by.  We  have  only  to  consider  how  they 
grow  to  realize  the  flight  of  the  years.  Dorothy  is  at 
school,  and  quite  grown-up  at  four  and  a  quarter. 
Oliver  is  talking  impetuously,  if  still  with  the  delightful 
babyish  mispronunciation.  Bridget  grows  plump  and 
big " 

"  February  10,  1898.— This  morning,  at  breakfast 
time,  I  was  summoned  to  go  and  see  Mr.  Walker,  who  was 
reported  to  be  sinking.  He  has  been  getting  gradually 
weaker  of  late,  and  has  been  confined  to  his  bed  for  the 
last  ten  days  or  so.  I  went  at  once,  and  found  him  much 
changed,  though  I  do  not  feel  sure  that  he  is  quite  so 
near  death  as  those  in  the  house  imagine.  My  interview 
with  him  was  most  affecting.  He  clasped  my  hand  and 
said,  in  a  very  weak  voice,  '  This  morning  I  signed  my 
will — and  then  I  made  a  humble  confession  of  faith- 
then  I  asked  Christ  to  receive  my  spirit — and  then  I 
gave  glory  to  God  !  I  said  I  was  indeed  thankful  that 
he  found  the  Christian  consolations  so  strong  now.  He 
said,  '  Oh,  they  are,  they  are  '  very  fervently.  After 
this  he  lay  for  some  time  very  still,  and  I  thought  resting  ; 
so  I  did  not  say  anything  to  him.  By  and  bye,  as  I 
saw  he  was  fully  awake,  I  suggested  reading  and  prayer, 
and  he  begged  me  to  do  so.  I  read  him  «  For  ever  with 
the  Lord,'  and  at  the  end  he  said  '  Amen.'  Then  we 
prayed.  He  followed  me  with  much  emphasis  :  and  at 
the  end  said,  '  Gracious  Lord,  hear  and  answer  this 
prayer,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.'  I  then  spoke  a  word  to 
him  about  the  solemn  passage  in  Corinthians,  of  our 
work  being  tried  by  fire,  and  what  is  of  God  enduring. 
He  held  up  his  hands  and  said,  '  Ah  ! '  Then  he  said 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     165 

a  few  words  which  I  did  not  perfectly  catch  ;  but  among 
them  I  heard  him  say,  '  I  am  so  thankful  that  Christ 
calls  us,  and  we  have  only  to  respond  ;  so  the  origin,  as 
well  as  the  work,  is  His.'  His  niece,  Mrs.  S.,  and  the 
nurse  now  came  in  just  as  I  was  beginning  to  read  another 
hymn.  He  bade  them  sit  down,  and  I  read  '  O  Jesus, 
King  most  wonderful ! '  As  I  began  to  read  he  put  his 
hands  together  reverently  in  the  attitude  of  prayer. 
When  I  came  to  the  end,  he  said  a  few  more  words  of 
prayer,  asking  that  the  prayer  of  the  hymn  might  be 
granted— 

'  And  when  from  hence  I  pass  away, 
To  me  Thy  glory  show.' 

The  rest  was  very  wonderful.  His  face  shone,  and  the 
tears  came  into  his  eyes.  He  spread  out  his  hands  and 
said,  '  The  Lord  bless  you  all,  the  Lord  bless  you  all  '— 
these  words,  or  words  very  similar.  Then  he  said  to  me, 
'  Give  my  love  to  the  brethren,  good-bye.'  I  bent  down 
and  kissed  him  on  the  forehead.  We  were  all  in  tears. 
But  when  I  left  the  house,  despite  the  keenness  of  my 
sorrow,  I  felt  that  I  could  sing  in  very  joy  of  faith.  It 
was  the  death-bed  of  a  saint." 

"  March  26,  1898. — It  is  worth  recording  that  this  has 
been  a  most  remarkable  season.  We  had  practically 
no  winter  ;  a  day  or  two  of  frost  about  Christmas-time, 
and  nothing  more.  On  Valentine's  day  I  was  calling 
on  D.  at  Swiss  Cottage,  and  I  passed  a  thorn  almost 
in  full  leaf ;  yet  yesterday,  which  was  Lady  Day,  was 
distinguished  by  snow  and  sleet  and  a  bitter  north- 
easterly gale,  which  has  raged  with  great  fury  for  many 
hours,  and  is  still  unabated." 

"  February  21. — I  have  had  some  misgivings  latterly 
whether  my  work  here  may  not  be  over.  There  is  no 
outward  reason  for  discouragement,  but  I  am  not  sure 
that  by  remaining  I  shall  carry  the  congregation  forward 
to  any  point  of  greater  spiritual  prosperity.  Have  I 
done  all  with  them  that  I  can  ?  It  may  be  so.  At 


166    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

any  rate  I  found  myself  not  undisposed  to  turn  an 
attentive  ear  when  informally  sounded  as  to  Queen 
Street,  Wolverhampton.  Probably  nothing  will  come 
of  it  anyhow.  If  it  should,  it  would  be  hard  to  go,  but 
perhaps  hard  also  to  stay.  A  minister  wants  to  know 
that  there  is  such  a  general  enthusiasm  for  the  work  of 
the  Church,  and  such  real  gain  resulting  from  his  ministry 
that  the  congregation  is  advancing  in  the  spiritual  life. 
Nothing  is  so  difficult  to  ascertain  as  this,  and  one  may 
be  misled  by  a  few  signs  that  do  not  mean  much.  But 
I  am  not  persuaded  that  we  have  the  necessary  spirit 
among  us,  and  hence  this  unsettled  feeling  for  almost  or 
quite  the  first  time  in  my  ministry.  K.  has  been  much 
impressed  by  a  visit  we  have  paid  to  Oxford.  I  went 
in  the  capacity  of  college  pastor  to  Mansfield,  and  cer- 
tainly our  intercourse  with  the  men  was  most  encour- 
aging. Some  of  them,  notably  Gaunt,  Lenwood,  Carter, 
Harrison,  Rees,  seem  to  me  giants — men  destined  to 
make  a  great  mark  in  our  Congregational  history. 
I  shall  follow  their  careers  with  intense  interest  and 
high  expectation. 

"  Lecturing  at  Brighton  the  other  day,  I  spent  some 
time  with  R.  J.  Campbell.  He  has  the  ball  at  his  feet 
there.  The  whole  place  is  moved  ;  and  at  the  present 
time  he  is  preaching  on  Sunday  evenings,  after  his  regular 
service,  in  the  Empire  Theatre.  He  is  a  fine-looking 
fellow,  with  a  mass  of  wavy  grey  hair,  large  sympathetic 
eyes,  and  altogether  decidedly  handsome  face.  I  gather 
he  is  advanced  in  all  his  views,  political,  social,  educa- 
tional, and  theological.  He  has  become  practically  the 
leader  of  the  Liberal  Party  in  Brighton." 

"  August  1,  1899. — Another  year's  work  is  practically 
over,  and  I  am  thinking  of  my  journey  to  America  to 
take  part  in  the  International  Congregational  Council 
at  Boston.  Alfred  Fordham  is  to  go  with  me,  and  we 
intend  seeing  something  of  Canada,  and  the  western 
American  cities,  before  the  Council  begins.  I  have  felt 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY     167 

a  good  deal  encouraged  here  latterly.  Congregations 
have  been  large,  additions  to  the  Church  numerous,  and 
the  responses  to  an  appeal  we  have  issued  for  a  Twentieth 
Century  Fund  most  splendid  and  inspiring.  The  whole 
congregation,  to  a  man  and  a  woman,  has  entered  into 
the  scheme  with  ardour  and  liberality,  demonstrating 
that  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  our  mission  and  principles 
has  never  been  stronger  and  truer.  I  have  had  some 
further  overtures  from  Queen  Street,  Wolverhampton, 
but  they  have  been  indirect,  and  do  not  disturb  me  now. 
My  present  duty  is  very  clear  before  me,  and  I  must  not 
allow  myself  to  be  diverted  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the 
left.  I  think  I  will  record  here  that  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  to  my  intense  surprise,  I  was  elected  with  acclama- 
tion to  the  Chair  of  the  London  Congregational  Union. 
Somewhat  rashly,  I  fear,  I  intimated  my  acceptance,  and 
then  my  deacons  remonstrated  so  strongly  that  I  was 
compelled  to  withdraw.  Now  Mr.  Holborn  wishes  to 
induce  the  deacons  to  rescind  their  resolution  of  opposi- 
tion provided  I  return  from  America  fit  and  well. 
However,  I  don't  think  they  will  do  this,  and  I  am  quite 
resigned  to  accept  the  situation  as  it  is.  I  have  been 
trying  hard  to  write  a  twenty-minutes  paper  to  read  at 
Boston  on  *  The  Young  People  and  their  Work.'  Just 
fancy  having  to  treat  such  a  subject  in  so  short  a 
time!" 

"  January  1901. — The  New  Century  has  come,  and 
I  am  where  I  am,  and  likely  to  remain  there.  I  have 
declined  the  call  to  Edinburgh.  The  first  thing  really 
to  shake  me  was  a  visit  from  .  .  .  He  is  a  fine  fellow, 
very  affectionate,  and  a  great  friend.  He  fairly  broke 
down  and  sobbed  in  my  drawing-room.  *  I  don't  mind 
telling  you,'  he  said,  '  that  it  is  the  greatest  crash  of  my 
life.'  Then  came  the  big  deputation  from  my  Church, 
and  pleaded  for  London,  and  for  Kensington.  It  was 
overwhelming  ;  and  yet  I  stood  out.  As  I  now  know, 
the  Deputation  retired  convinced  that  it  was,  as  one 


168    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY 

of  them  said,  '  ten  to  one '  against  them.  My  brother 
ministers  in  the  'M.P.s'1  were  divided  in  judgment. 
They  all  thought  there  was  peculiar  suitability  between 
me  and  the  Morningside  opportunity.  But  they  urged 
me  to  stay  in  London.  Finally  I  had  a  quiet  day  with 
God  and  myself,  and  all  the  correspondence,  and  the 
final  fight  was  as  to  where  I  was  most  needed  ;  and  the 
decision  was  that  it  was  where  I  am.  .  .  .  We  are  quite 
clear  now  that  we  have  been  '  led.'  The  spirit  of  the 
people  here  is  all  aggressive  and  progressive.  May  it 
continue  !  The  letters  I  received  were  perfectly  won- 
derful. I  read  them  with  great  tears  coursing  down  my 
cheeks,  and  choked  over  them  as  I  have  never  done 
over  anything.  My  one  thought  and  prayer  now  is 
that  God  will  provide  some  very  good  destiny  for  the 
Church  at  Morningside,  whose  confidence  and  enthusiasm 
have  moved  me  beyond  words." 

"  January  11. — I  have  just  crawled  out  of  bed  after 
three  days  of  neuralgia.  I  wonder  in  what  circle  of  the 
Inferno  the  presiding  Furies  are  allowed  to  use  neu- 
ralgia. Boiling  mud  seems  to  me  to-day  like  a  very 
inferior  hell.  The  power  of  so  intangible  a  thing  as  a 
breath  of  raw  air  to  twist  itself  up  in  the  roots  of  the 
nerves  and  wrench  at  them  until  you  shriek  again  is  as 
mysterious  as  most  other  things  in  life.  God  hangeth 
life  and  death,  pleasure  and  pain  upon  nothing. 

"  My  friends  are  very  kind,  and  I  have  felt  healed  by 
their  touches  of  sympathy.  Other  friends,  too,  help — 
friends  one  has  never  seen.  This  afternoon  came  two 
such  out  of  the  land  of  sweet  sounds  and  dreams — 
Coventry  Patmore  and  Nathaniel  Hawthorne.  They  are 
good  reading  for  the  man  who  loves  music.  I  cannot 
say  how  great  I  feel  Patmore' s  Odes  to  be.  Some  of  the 
touches  do  indeed  '  kiss  the  music  from  the  chords  of 
life.'  If  there  is  any  more  beautiful  description  of  love- 

1  Name    given  to  the  society  of  younger   ministers    founded   by 
Home,  Darlow,  and  others. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     169 

making  than  the  lines  in  '  Amelia  '  where  she  first  kisses 
her  lover  by  the  grave  of  the  old  love,  I  don't  know 
where  it  is  to  be  found.  And  what  delicate,  mystic, 
dreamy  beauty  in  *  Tired  Memories ' !  But  what  a  touch 
is  Hawthorne's  !  That  he  makes  the  flesh  creep,  and 
causes  you  to  feel  queer  tremors  and  aching  forebodings 
is  true.  But  I  like  the  remorseless  way  in  which  he 
shows  how  life  in  its  most  delicate  and  exquisite  forms 
crumbles  under  the  rough  grasp  of  materialism.  He  is 
a  great  poet  of  the  spirit  and  the  moral  emotions,  if  no 
more.  So  I  have  touched  the  garment's  hem  of  lesser 
souls  than  the  greatest  this  afternoon  and  have  felt 
'  virtue  '  go  out  of  them. 

"  April  1. — This  month  has  been  a  memorable  one 
to  me  on  account  of  a  visit  to  Italy.  My  good  father- 
in-law,  who  is  always  adding  to  our  happiness,  proposed 
to  take  Katharine  and  myself  with  Hope1  to  Rome  and 
Florence.  My  deacons  consented,  and  this  month  we 
have  carried  out  the  project.  Katharine  went  on  with 
her  father  and  sister  to  Paris  on  the  Saturday,  where 
I  joined  them  on  the  Monday  evening,  having  travelled 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Winterbotham  and  Harry  Spicer. 
We  got  to  Rome  on  the  Wednesday  before  Easter  Sunday 
and  stayed  till  the  following  Saturday  week.  We  were 
armed  with  an  introduction  from  the  Duke  of  Norfolk 
to  Monsignor  Stanley,  a  brother  of  Lyulph  Stanley ; 
and  also  we  had  an  introduction  to  Mr.  Grizel,  cousin 
of  Sir  Morton  Peto  and  chamberlain  to  the  Pope.  These 
keys  unlocked  all  doors.  We  succeeded  in  gaining 
admittance  to  an  audience  of  the  Pope  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel ;  and  we  were  permitted  to  see  through  the 
crypts  of  St.  Peter's — where  the  tombs  and  sarcophagi 
of  so  many  of  the  Popes  are.  I  am  never  likely  to 
forget  the  audience  with  Leo  XIII.  The  Sistine  Chapel 
was,  of  course,  crowded  with  people,  gentlemen  in  even- 
ing dress  and  ladies  in  black  veils.  The  central  aisle 

1  Miss  Hope  Cozens-Hardy,  now  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Pilkington. 


170    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

was  kept  by  the  stalwart  Swiss  Guards  in  their  bizarre 
costume  of  lemon,  black,  and  red,  and  with  halberds  in 
their  hands.  The  state,  or  church,  officials  moved  here 
and  there  ushering  visitors  into  their  places — men 
clothed  in  black  velvet  doublet  and  hose  with  cloak 
and  ruff  and  sleeves  edged  with  lace,  and  chains  across 
the  breast,  and  so  forth.  One  Spanish  official  was 
extraordinarily  handsome,  with  pointed  black  beard  and 
swarthy  skin,  looking  as  if  he  had  stepped  down  out 
of  the  canvas  of  Velasquez.  We  had  to  wait  two  hours, 
but  in  the  Sistine  Chapel  that  is  not  irksome.  The 
time  passed  quickly  ;  and  then  at  a  given  signal  the 
great  doors  opened,  and  through  them  you  looked  out 
at  the  gaily  frescoed  hall  beyond.  There  was  the  usual 
murmur  of  excited  expectation  ;  and  then,  borne  aloft 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  guards,  and  on  his  chair  of  state 
of  crimson  and  gold,  came  Pope  Leo  XIII,  dressed  all  in 
white,  the  famous  ring  glittering  on  his  finger.  He 
certainly  looked  very  old,  but  not  so  frail  as  I  expected. 
The  side  face  reminded  me  strongly  of  Newman's  por- 
traits, but  the  full  face  is  of  course  notable  for  the 
extraordinary  mouth,  the  broadest  I  have  ever  seen. 
He  was  flushed  with  excitement,  and  his  lips  moved  con- 
stantly as  he  turned  from  side  to  side,  sitting  forward 
in  his  chair,  and  blessing  the  audience  right  and  left. 
His  eyes  are  very  animated  ;  and  if  his  face  is  not 
attractive,  it  is  certainly  a  very  striking  one.  Perhaps 
it  was  the  sense  of  his  age — he  is  92,  I  believe — which 
made  the  whole  scene  a  sort  of  dream,  and  left  the 
curious  impression  of  unreality  as  of  the  baseless  fabric 
of  a  vision.  He  was  borne  to  the  far  end  of  the  Chapel, 
where  he  dismounted  right  under  Michael  Angelo's  awful 
figure  of  the  Christ  at  the  Day  of  Judgment,  and  there 
he  knelt  at  the  altar,  and  his  figure  framed  itself  into 
the  great  canvas,  and  one  was  irresistibly  reminded 
that  he,  too,  and  the  system  he  represents  must  be  judged 
where  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  shall  be  revealed.  Then 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON   DIARY    171 

he  proceeded  to  read  or  chant  certain  sentences  in  a 
singularly  loud  and  nasal  voice.  The  responses  were 
rendered  by  the  choir  in  the  gallery  on  our  right.  Then 
when  this  was  over,  he  pronounced  the  benediction,  and 
those  knelt  who  could  contrive  to  do  so  in  the  crowded 
state  of  the  chapel.  He  then  held  a  reception,  at  which 
certain  people  were  personally  presented.  Then  he  sat 
in  his  chair  again,  was  hoisted  up  and  carried  out. 
I  should  have  said  that  both  on  his  entrance  and  exit  he 
was  greeted  with  ringing  shouts  of  acclamation — '  Vive 
le  pape  ;  vive  le  pape  re  ! '  Women  held  out  beads  for 
him  to  bless,  and  many  young  fellows  became  almost 
hysterical  and  delirious  with  enthusiasm.  One  could 
not  but  note  that  on  his  return  he  looked  fatigued,  and 
his  face  was  very  grey;  but  he  bore  himself  valiantly. 
One  wondered,  too,  whether  he  is  still  the  victim  of  the 
curious  illusion  that  the  temporal  power  can  ever 
return  to  him  or  his  successors.  It  is  generally  believed 
that  he  is  quite  fanatical  on  the  point. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  describe  in  detail  our  busy,  event- 
ful days  at  Rome  and  Florence.  At  the  former  place 
we  stayed  at  the  Hotel  de  Russie,  where  we  were  most 
comfortable.  We  worked  hard,  devoting  morning  and 
afternoon  to  sight-seeing,  and  we  succeeded  in  compass- 
ing most  of  the  famous  places  and  buildings.  One  was 
hardly  prepared  for  the  strength  of  the  impression  that 
pagan  Rome  is  more  interesting  than  Christian  Rome, 
except  where  you  confront  the  memories  of  early  Chris- 
tianity, and  where  you  come  across  the  traces  of  Michael 
Angelo  and  his  great  confraternity." 

"  July  20,  1901. — Yesterday  I  attended  a  cricket 
match  organized  by  Mr.  Watt.  It  is  an  annual  affair, 
made  special  this  year  by  the  attendance  of  Dr.  W.  G. 
Grace,  who  played  for  Mr.  Watt's  side.  Grace  was  53 
the  day  previous,  and  so  as  cricketers  go  he  deserves 
his  title  '  the  old  man.'  He  is  elephantine  in  build, 
holds  one  shoulder  higher  than  the  other,  and  slouches 


172    EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY 

along  like  a  great  burly  farmer  on  market  day.  There 
is  nothing  in  his  appearance  to  suggest  those  extra- 
ordinary powers  of  sight  and  quickness  of  motion  which 
we  all  associate  with  him.  It  was  evident,  however, 
as  we  rode  down  in  the  same  carriage,  that  he  was  devoted 
to  sport,  and  keenly  interested  in  all  outdoor  life.  He 
recalled  his  runs  with  the  harriers — and  he  can  still  run — 
with  which  he  hunts  in  the  season  two  or  three  days  in 
the  week.  He  had  an  eye  for  all  the  crops,  and  all  the 
processes  of  agriculture.  On  the  field  his  extreme  good- 
nature was  very  obvious.  He  was  the  first  and  the 
loudest  in  clapping  every  good  stroke  and  fine  piece  of 
fielding.  He  ingratiated  himself  specially  with  all  the 
youngsters  by  the  warmth  of  his  encouragement.  We 
got  that  rare  thing,  a  speech,  out  of  him  at  the  luncheon. 
Needless  to  say,  it  was  short  and  hearty,  and  enthusias- 
tically applauded.  His  own  innings  was  not  a  great 
one,  but  he  made  57,  and  we  were  thankful  to  those 
who  missed  him  twice.  Some  of  his  strokes  were  as 
masterly  as  ever." 

"  June  24,  1902. — A  day  of  singular  agitation.  Yes- 
terday the  King  arrived  in  London  from  Windsor  for 
his  Coronation  ceremonies  and  functions.  To-day  he 
is  lying  at  the  gates  of  death,  even  while  all  the  city  is 
gay  with  flags,  and  streamers  and  triumphal  arches, 
and  thousands  of  troops  assembled  to  march  in  pro- 
cession are  encamped  in  the  public  gardens  and  else- 
where. The  wildest  rumours  have  been  flying  abroad. 
This  afternoon  it  was  commonly  believed  that  he  was 
dead.  Mrs.  H.,  I  found,  had  just  returned  from 
Holland  Park  Garden  Party.  She  had  seen  the  Princess 
Beatrice  leave  hurriedly  in  floods  of  tears,  had  heard 
the  band  stopped,  and  seen  the  party  begin  to  break  up 
in  confusion.  An  inspector  of  police  had  galloped  up 
saying  that  all  was  over.  Later  on  these  disquieting 
reports  gave  way  to  somewhat  better  ones.  The  King 
had  had  a  serious  operation,  but  was  recovering  fairly 


EXTRACTS    FROM    KENSINGTON    DIARY     173 

well.  The  Coronation,  however,  is  indefinitely  post- 
poned, and  all  is  perplexity.  The  next  twenty-four 
hours  will  doubtless  indicate  the  issue  for  life  or  death. 
Meanwhile  we  can  but  possess  our  souls  in  patience,  and 
wait  and  pray." 


CHAPTER  VI 

WHITEFIELDS   AND    PARLIAMENT 

IN  June  1903  Home  bade  farewell  to  Kensington.  A 
great  meeting  was  held  in  the  Town  Hall  to  bid  him 
God-speed.  His  people  took  leave  of  him  with  sore 
hearts,  but  they  felt  that  they  were  giving  him  to  a 
larger  work,  and  they  did  it  under  a  real  sense  of  duty. 
Not  a  few  of  them  enrolled  themselves  among  his 
earliest  fellow-workers  in  the  new  sphere.  Before 
settling  down  again  he  took  a  long  holiday,  first  on  a 
bicycling  tour  with  his  wife  in  Cornwall,  and  afterwards 
at  Sheringham.  Meanwhile  work  was  begun  at  White- 
fields  with  certain  necessary  structural  alterations,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Rev.  James  Holmes,  who  had  been 
appointed  assistant  superintendent  of  the  mission,  and 
who  proved  a  most  able  and  devoted  helper.  Home 
said  of  him  that  "  his  gift  of  organization  almost 
amounted  to  genius."  The  cost  of  the  alteration  and 
additions  to  the  building  was  not  less  than  thirty 
thousand  pounds,  and  thanks  to  the  splendid  generosity 
of  Mr.  W.  H.  Brown,  the  treasurer,  Mrs.  Ry lands,  and 
many  other  friends,  the  whole  of  this  great  sum  was 
raised  within  a  few  months. 

The  mission  was  opened,  and  the  work  inaugurated  at 
a  great  public  meeting  in  September  1903.  A  sermon 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Jowett,  and  he,  along  with  Earl 
Carrington,  Mr.  Campbell,  and  many  London  ministers, 
supported  Home  on  the  platform.  Home  had  preached 
on  the  previous  Sunday,  and  the  note  of  his  sermons 
and  of  the  whole  opening  services  was  the  redemption 

174 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       175 

of  men  and  women — a  gospel  wide  enough  and  powerful 
enough  to  meet  every  human  need.  From  the  first 
the  work  at  Whitefields  was  an  unqualified  success. 
All  sorts  and  conditions  of  folk  flocked  to  it  in  embarras- 
sing numbers,  and  most  of  them  found  something  to 
help  them  in  their  need.  Home  and  his  fellow- workers 
laid  themselves  out  to  meet  the  conditions  in  which  they 
found  themselves  with  a  broad  and  elastic  policy. 
They  aimed  at  an  institutional  church,  but  had  no 
intention  of  sacrificing  the  church  to  the  institutions 
which  centred  round  it.  The  church  remained  a  reality, 
and  the  Sunday  worship  gave  the  inspiration  to  all  the 
work  of  the  week.  On  Sunday  morning  Home  con- 
ducted a  service  very  much  on  the  lines  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  at  Kensington,  and  it  was  well  attended  and 
widely  useful.  In  the  afternoon  the  great  building  was 
filled  with  men,  and  the  Whitefields  Brotherhood  became 
a  power  for  good  in  the  neighbourhood  and  a  model 
for  all  other  meetings  of  the  kind.  Home  was  often 
criticized  for  the  political  complexion  which  at  times 
characterized  these  gatherings.  But  he  was  quite  un- 
repentant, and  vigorously  defended  his  conviction  that 
it  was  necessary  to  bring  religion  into  politics  and 
reconstruct  both  municipal  and  national  affairs  on  a 
Christian  basis.  Some  ten  years  later  he  wrote  an 
apologia  for  his  policy  in  this  regard  in  a  volume  entitled 
Pulpit,  Platform,  and  Parliament  which  is  unanswerable. 
In  the  evening  the  church  was  again  filled  with  a  crowd 
largely  composed  of  young  men  and  women  for  a  service 
of  a  more  evangelistic  kind,  with  plenty  of  good  music. 
At  this  service  Home  gave  of  his  best,  and  untold  good 
was  accomplished  by  it.  The  Sunday  services  set  the 
tone  for  the  whole  work  of  the  mission  during  the  week. 
The  various  clubs  and  societies  catered  for  the  bodily, 
mental,  and  spiritual  needs  of  the  varied  classes  who  made 
Whitefields  their  home  from  home.  Mrs.  Home  took 
the  lead  in  the  work  among  women,  girls,  and  children, 


176       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

and  she  and  her  fine  band  of  fellow- workers,  some  of 
whom  were  definitely  set  apart  as  "  sisters  of  the  people," 
accomplished  great  things. 

Of  the  beginnings  at  Whitefields  Home  wrote  in  his 
diary  : — 

"  I  left  Kensington  at  the  end  of  June  after  a  very 
interesting  and  cordial  farewell  meeting  in  the  Town  Hall, 
and  Katharine  and  I  had  a  cycling  honeymoon  in 
Cornwall,  visiting  the  Land's  End  and  most  of  the  well- 
known  places  round  the  coast.  Then  we  returned  to 
town  for  Hope's  wedding,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  our 
holiday  at  Sheringham.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Holmes,  whom 
I  had  chosen  as  a  colleague  for  Whitefields,  had  been 
pushing  the  workpeople  along  and  got  the  building  ready 
for  reopening.  The  commencement  was  most  aus- 
picious. The  crowds  were  prodigious.  My  friends  all 
stood  round  me.  Jowett  and  Campbell  and  Clifford 
and  Lord  Carrington  came  along  to  speed  the  launch. 
I  appealed  for  volunteers  for  an  orchestra,  and  got  them. 
Harry  Spicer  and  Robert  Wallace  became  my  treasurers, 
to  my  immense  satisfaction.  .  .  .  From  the  beginning  we 
were  crowded  out  at  the  evening  services.  The  morning 
services  grew  in  most  encouraging  fashion.  The  men's 
meeting  in  the  afternoon  proved  a  most  solid  and 
satisfactory  institution.  The  At  Homes  before  and  after 
the  evening  service  for  the  young  people  in  the  business 
houses  taxed  our  accommodation  to  the  utmost. 
Everything  we  touched  was  a  success  ;  but  I  think  we 
ought  to  claim  that  we  put  all  our  brains  into  the 
business  and  an  immense  capital  of  energy.  Heavens, 
how  we  worked  !  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmes  lived  in  the 
Toplady  Hall,  sleeping  in  a  room  partitioned  out  of  the 
Hall.  Their  devotion  and  self-denial  were  endless. 
Katharine  and  I,  with  the  five  bairns,  removed  from 
Kensington  to  20  Ampthill  Square,  where  we  found 
a  very  pleasant  house  and  garden  within  ten  minutes' 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       177 

walk  of  Whitefields.  There  our  sixth  baby  was  born 
—the  brightest  and  best  of  wee  mortals.  We  christened 
her  Ruth  Audrey — the  '  Whitefields  Baby  '  everybody 
called  her,  and  a  better  symbol  of  the  new  order  of 
things  at  Whitefields  could  not  be.  As  we  drew  near  to 
Christmas  a  new  interest  arose.  There  was  a  vacancy 
in  the  parliamentary  representation  of  the  Ludlow 
Division  in  Shropshire,  and  Fred  was  asked  to  stand, 
and  consented.  Of  course  I  took  the  field  with  him  ; 
and  we  careered  in  a  motor-car  in  the  depths  of  an 
exceptionally  moist  winter  '  o'er  moor  and  fen.'  He 
did  not  win,  but  he  fought  as  fair  and  fine  a  fight  as 
man  ever  fought  on  English  soil,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  victory  in  the  future. 

"  All  through  winter  and  spring  the  work  went  on  with 
unabated  ardour  and  success.  In  May  we  laid  the  foun- 
dation-stone of  the  Institute  which  Mr.  W.  H.  Brown 
is  erecting  for  us.  Mr.  Asquith  came  at  the  last  moment 
to  take  the  place  of  Lord  Rosebery,  who  disappointed  us. 
Mr.  Asquith  said  many  very  kind  things  about  me  and 
my  work.  But  indeed,  when  I  recall  all  the  generous 
tributes  paid  to  me  I  am  humbled  to  the  dust.  It  has 
been  a  wonderful  year,  the  Hand  of  God  being  so  manifest 
that  one  could  almost  claim  to  have  seen  it  visibly 
influencing  one's  life. 

"  Of  the  formal  opening  of  our  Whitefields  Institute 
much  might  be  written.  The  proceedings  were  memor- 
able. Mr.  Carruthers  Gould  made  an  excellent  speech 
at  the  luncheon,  and  Mr.  BirrelPs  address  at  night  was 
as  fine  as  anything  I  ever  heard  of  its  kind.  Perhaps 
the  most  startling  feature  of  the  day  was  a  cheque  sent 
by  Mrs.  Rylands  for  £4,000  to  clear  off  all  our  indebted- 
ness. I  was  at  first  uncertain  whether  even  with  this 
cheque  in  hand  I  should  get  the  full  £6,000  required. 
But  at  the  luncheon  Mr.  John  Carter  promised  £1,000 
if  the  whole  sum  were  raised  that  day.  It  seemed  to 
most  people  so  improbable  that  many  said  or  thought 
12 


178       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

Mr.  Carter  did  not  intend  to  give  the  £1,000,  but  only 
to  offer  it.  When  I  announced  the  £4,000  gift  Mr. 
Connell  leaned  across  in  his  excitement  and  said  to 
Birrell,  '  Then  it's  done.'  '  Yes,'  replied  Birrell,  '  and 
Carter's  done.'  But  I  am  certain  Mr.  Carter  was  as 
happy  to  give  the  money  as  to  promise  it." 

The  following  account  of  the  life  at  Whitefields  has 
been  contributed  by  the  Rev.  James  Holmes  :— 

"  In  the  change  of  sphere  from  Allen  Street  to 
Whitefields  Mr.  Home  thoroughly  realized  the  enormous 
difference.  He  was  leaving  a  well-organized  church 
with  great  traditions  behind  him,  and  setting  his  face 
towards  a  church  with  practically  only  its  traditions  left 
to  boast  of,  but  with  '  Ichabod '  across  its  portals. 
The  chief  advantage  to  him  was  that  the  site  was  in  a 
great  thoroughfare  along  which  thousands  of  men  and 
women  passed  day  and  night,  Sunday  and  weekdays, 
and  around  it  were  huge  places  of  business,  numerous 
flats,  and  every  nationality  under  the  sun.  The  position 
was  unique,  and  the  opportunities  offered  laid  hold  of  his 
wonderful  imagination,  and  he  saw  in  it  a  sphere  of 
service  which  drew  him  like  a  magnet.  When  it  was 
first  suggested  to  him  by,  I  believe,  the  Rev.  George  A. 
Suttle,  he  recognized  that  it  was  probably  the  leading  of 
God  to  a  service  far  wider  than  anyone  dreamed  of.  He 
had  long  craved  for  a  centre  where  he  could  be  absolutely 
unfettered  and  where  '  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  ' 
could  come  rightfully  and  naturally  to  his  ministry. 
In  the  Tottenham  Court  Road  he  saw  his  chance,  and 
leaped  to  it,  thinking  only  of  the  opportunity  and  of 
nothing  else.  He  could  make  a  big  business  house  of  it 
for  Jesus  Christ,  where  all  could  come  '  without  money 
and  without  price.'  The  low  state  in  numbers  and 
influence  to  which  the  church  had  sunk,  and  its  generous 
willingness  to  consent  to  his  conditions,  left  him  exactly 
with  the  free  hand  he  desired  for  his  plans.  The 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       179 

experiment  was  daring  so  far  as  Congregationalism  is 
concerned,  and  made  him,  as  a  democrat  of  democrats, 
a  sort  of  autocrat  with  a  small  bureaucracy  of  governors  ; 
but  those  who  lived  closest  to  him  and  understood  the 
workings  of  his  mind,  and  the  dreams  he  dreamed,  and 
the  visions  he  saw,  followed  him  all  the  way  with  unim- 
paired confidence. 

"  No  man,  perhaps,  ever  came  into  such  close  touch 
with  him  as  I  did,  or  saw  him  so  intimately  on  every 
side  of  his  life,  and  no  man  ever  loved  him  more — and 
still  loves  him.  He  became  my  David,  and  I  know 
I  was  his  Jonathan.  He  had  a  gift  for  winning  men 
to  service  such  as  I  had  not  seen  before  nor  since, 
hence  difficulties  and  opposition  went  down  before  him, 
and  the  way  was  smoothed  for  his  great  experiment. 
Before  he  left  Kensington  he  was  up  to  the  eyes  in 
Charles  Booth's  Life  and  Labour  of  London,  and  he  was 
studying  the  sociological  maps  the  book  contained 
until  he  had  gripped  the  position.  His  mind  worked 
rapidly,  and  he  had  a  curious  instinct,  which  I  have 
never  quite  seen  in  any  other  man,  for  putting  his  finger 
unerringly  on  the  weakness  or  strength  of  a  position  and 
knowing  how  to  handle  it.  Any  meeting  was  quite 
safe  in  his  hands  as  chairman,  although  he  had  a  way 
of  playing  fast  and  loose  with  programmes.  It  never 
mattered  to  him  what  you  had  arranged,  he  would 
carry  it  through  in  his  own  delightful  and  successful 
fashion.  Many  a  time  worried  officials  and  organizers 
hurried  to  me  and  said,  '  That  is  not  according  to  pro- 
gramme,' and  I  had  to  assure  them  that  if  they  would 
only  wait  they  would  be  the  first  to  congratulate  them- 
selves on  the  success  of  the  affair,  whatever  it  was. 
I  never  once  saw  him  make  a  mistake.  No  one  could 
catch  the  trick — it  was  a  gift  of  God. 

"  To  one  thing  he  made  up  his  mind  :  he  was  not  going 
to  have  a  cheap  and  nasty  mission  building.  He  was 
going  to  proclaim  a  great  Christ  and  a  great  Gospel, 


180       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

and  he  would  have  a  place  and  machinery  worthy  of 
the  object ;  hence  he  knew  what  to  preserve  and  what 
to  scrap  and  what  to  enlarge.  A  church  of  limited 
days  and  service  was  no  good  to  him.  It  must  be 
a  church  he  could  use  every  day  if  he  wanted,  and 
he  would  build  an  institute  to  serve  humanity  twenty- 
four  hours.  He  would  meet  every  business  house  in 
Tottenham  Court  Road  on  its  own  level,  and  beat  them 
at  the  game — and  he  did  it.  He  knew  his  own  mind 
as  to  what  he  wanted  in  the  matter  of  alterations,  and 
made  the  best  of  the  church  and  Toplady  Hall ;  but  his 
great  scheme  was  the  institute  which  was  to  take  the 
place  of  the  dilapidated  building  at  the  back.  To  carry 
out  the  scheme  necessitated  the  reverent  removal  of 
parts  of  the  old  graveyard,  all  of  which  was  done ;  and 
then  came  into  being  a  fine,  replete  set  of  buildings 
ready  for  all  who  needed  and  desired  them.  In  them 
all  he  dreamed  of  came  to  pass,  and  during  his  ministry 
night  after  night  and  seven  days  a  week  the  place  was 
like  a  hive  of  bees.  There  was  nothing  about  any  part 
of  them  that  savoured  of  the  average  mission-hall. 
Everything  was  of  the  best,  tastefully  furnished,  and 
home-like  to  a  degree.  There  was  no  side  of  it  that  we 
ever  had  to  apologize  for  or  feel  ashamed  of.  It  was  a 
great  workshop  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  achieved  its  object. 
"  Full  use  of  all  the  old  church's  possibilities  was  made 
from  the  start,  in  September,  and  in  three  weeks  he  had 
got  his  men's  meeting  going.  The  first  Sunday  of  this 
famous  meeting  saw  the  body  of  the  church  nearly  full, 
and  from  then  onward  it  grew  rapidly  till  the  great 
church  was  crowded  Sunday  after  Sunday  to  its  utmost. 
The  tea  hour  at  the  close  kept  men,  and  naturally 
the  evening  service  claimed  them,  the  result  being  a 
balancing  of  sexes  seen  in  few  of  the  churches.  His  morn- 
ing services  were  always  splendidly  attended,  and  were 
dignified,  quiet,  and  helpful  beyond  measure.  In  them 
was  found  strength,  comfort,  and  guidance,  and  they 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       181 

drew  men  and  women  of  every  type  and  class.  There 
was  a  rare  fragrance  in  them,  a  fragrance  which  lasts 
till  now.  He  gave  to  them  the  greatest  of  preparation 
and  thought,  both  in  sermon  and  prayer.  There  was 
never  a  part  of  them  that  was  permitted  to  fall  from  the 
high  standard  of  what  a  service  should  be.  The  simple 
Communion  Service  was  a  joy  from  beginning  to  end. 
To  me  in  that  he  was  always  at  his  finest.  From  then  on 
for  the  rest  of  the  day  he  was  absolutely  a  free-lance. 
The  level  in  the  afternoon  and  evening  was  always  high, 
but  free,  with  the  freedom  he  loved  so  passionately. 
He  never  descended  in  anything  ;  that  was  impossible  ; 
it  was  simply  a  change  of  movement,  the  bringing  into 
free  play  of  all  his  great  gifts  ;  but  all  the  time  he  was 
conscious  of  the  presence  of  the  great  Master  he  served 
and  the  kind  of  service  required  of  him.  He  had  a  way, 
too,  of  compelling  all  his  speakers  and  workers  to  be 
at  their  best ;  you  simply  could  not  say  or  do  stupid 
things  before  him. 

"  He  began  a  midday  service  at  once  on  Wednesdays, 
and  drew  an  extremely  good  audience,  and  for  them 
he  prepared  and  delivered  his  series  of  addresses 
contained  in  The  Model  Citizen.  He  put  an  amazing 
lot  of  thought  and  care  into  them,  and  those  who 
heard  them  were  impressed  and  influenced.  It  was 
a  congregation  of  all  sorts,  with  a  fair  sprinkling  of  men 
who  came  in  from  the  large  workshops  and  factories 
round.  In  addition  to  these  there  gathered,  however,  a 
fair  number  of  cranks  and  men  who  had  axes  to  grind, 
and  these  became  the  fly  in  the  ointment.  It  had 
become  Mr.  Home's  practice  to  see  all  and  sundry  after 
his  various  services,  and  these  visitors  grew  in  numbers. 
He  received  them  all  in  his  kindly,  gracious  way.  The 
door  of  his  heart  always  stood  open,  and  anyone  entered, 
only  some  stayed  too  long.  There  were  Wednesdays 
when  it  took  over  an  hour  to  pass  them  all  through,  and 
although  I  tried  hard  to  shoulder  some  of  them  off,  many 


182       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

got  past  me.  This  interviewing  business  began  to  tell 
upon  his  nervous  and  physical  strength,  and  when  the 
last  man  had  gone  I  would  find  him  completely  exhausted. 
In  the  end,  and  after  much  discussion,  we  reluctantly 
dropped  it.  With  the  growing  and  incessant  demands  on 
him,  and  all  that  had  to  be  accomplished,  he  could  not 
afford  to  waste  himself  in  that  way.  It  was  replaced 
with  an  evening  service,  which  also  drew  a  fair  audience  ; 
but  we  got  rid  of  the  cranks,  and  he  benefited. 

"  By  now  the  success  of  the  work  was  assured,  and  his 
hands  were  full.  Invitations  from  elsewhere  to  take 
services  and  lecture  and  deliver  addresses  came  in  shoals. 
He  was  absolutely  hopeless  as  a  correspondent,  and  had 
an  ipse  dixit  that  if  you  left  letters  long  enough  they 
answered  themselves.  He  finally  handed  over  his  diary 
and  correspondence  to  me,  and  this  saved  him  a  good 
deal.  He  was  interviewed  wherever  he  went,  and 
promises  were  solicited  for  engagements ;  but  in  his 
ingenuous,  delightful  way,  he  had  but  one  answer,  and 
was  saved  a  lot :  '  Write  Mr.  Holmes,  and  ask  him  ; 
if  he  says  I  can  come,  I  can  ;  if  he  says  I  cannot,  then 
I  cannot ;  I  don't  know  anything  about  myself,  he 
knows  everything.'  At  one  time  he  was  booked  three 
years  ahead.  There  were  times  when  his  engagements 
were  appalling,  and  I  have  known  him  speak  and 
preach  and  lecture  every  day  for  a  fortnight,  leaving 
King's  Cross  on  a  Sunday  at  9  p.m.,  and  arrive  back 
on  Saturday  morning  at  7.30,  and  then  take  a  big 
day  on  Sunday.  Every  smallest  detail  was  worked 
out  for  him  on  these  occasions ;  but  there  was  a  limit 
to  his  energy  and  strength.  He  paid  a  big  price  for  all 
this,  and  the  churches  exacted  it. 

"  Whitefields  was  a  two-man  job,  and  when  he  was  not 
there — well,  it  was  just  not  Whitefields.  In  addition  to 
all  this,  there  came  increasing  demands  for  articles  for 
magazines  and  newspapers.  Again  he  responded,  and 
by  this  time  his  favourite  game  of  golf  had  had  to  go  by 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       183 

the  board,  except  on  holidays  at  Sheringham  or  Church 
Stretton.  I  pleaded  with  him  to  take  Monday,  but 
the  incessant  demands  prevented  it.  He  contested  the 
L.C.C.  South  St.  Pancras  seat  against  the  late  Sir  George 
Alexander,  but  was  providentially  beaten.  It  was  a  fine 
contest  between  two  men  remarkably  alike  in  many  ways, 
and  was  a  model  of  courtesy  and  good  feeling.  The  famous 
parliamentary  election  of  1906,  when  the  Liberal  Party, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  late  Sir  Henry  Campbell- 
Bannerman,  was  returned  by  such  a  large  majority,  made 
enormous  demands  upon  Mr.  Home's  time  and  effort, 
and  he  responded  to  every  possible  call.  It  was  seriously 
proposed  to  him  by  the  leaders  of  the  party  that  he 
should  contest  one  of  the  divisions  of  Birmingham 
against  the  late  Mr.  Joseph  Chamberlain.  He  refused, 
however,  to  give  an  answer  without  discussing  it  with  me, 
and  I  vigorously  and  hotly  opposed  the  step  for  the 
sake  of  the  work  at  Whitefields  and  his  own  sake.  He 
knew  he  could  not  win  against  such  an  opponent,  and 
he  saw  that  it  might  cost  him  a  breakdown,  and  that 
would  be  disastrous  to  the  welfare  of  his  work.  He 
refused  the  request. 

"  By  this  time  he  had  begun  to  get  an  amazing  grip 
of  the  life  around  him  in  St.  Pancras.  He  used  to  prowl 
round  back  streets  and  byways  finding  out  things.  He 
became  a  familiar  figure,  and  talked  to  queer  folk,  and 
they  gradually  came  to  hear  him  at  nights  when  all 
seats  were  free.  Men  who  had  never  been  to  church 
for  years  became  regular  attenders  and  changed  men. 
French,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Dutch,  German,  from  that 
strange  medley  of  aliens  living  near  by,  were  influenced 
by  his  personality  and  power  of  human  touch.  One 
Sunday,  after  his  morning  service,  he  went  off  to  St. 
Pancras  Arches  to  address  ian  audience  of  working  men, 
and  when  he  got  there  he  found  his  platform,  a  sooty 
coal  wagon,  had  been  covered  with  old  newspapers 
for  fear  he  shouldjriack  himself.  That  fine  thoughtful- 


184       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

ness  touched  him,  and  he  cherished  the  incident  always. 
It  was  not  a  long  stride  for  his  hearers  from  those  Arches 
to  his  men's  meeting,  and  the  further  step  of  the  Sunday 
evening  service  and  life  on  higher  levels.  He  was  never 
a  cleric  in  anything  to  them.  In  dress,  in  manner,  in 
approach  of  speech  he  was  a  simple  Christian  gentleman, 
unconventional  to  a  degree,  and  when  he  spoke  he 
played  on  them  like  a  master  on  a  violin.  If  he  had 
asked  for  cheers  for  Jesus  Christ  he  could  have  got  them. 

"  I  never  knew  a  service  when  at  its  close  some  sorrow- 
ful tale  had  not  to  be  poured  into  his  ears,  and  then  he 
seemed  to  have  a  touch  of  motherhood.  Men  and  women 
alike  told  him  everything ;  he  had  a  way  of  looking  at 
them  and  letting  them  talk,  and  when  they  left  him 
they  were  conscious  that  a  healing  touch  had  been  laid 
upon  them.  I  know  this,  because  I  saw  it,  and  was  the 
only  one  who  did  see  it.  Of  course,  there  were  folk  to  be 
interviewed  who  were  pure  professionals  at  the  game,  but 
experience  soon  taught  him  how  to  sort  them  out,  and 
he  made  no  compromises  with  that  type.  He  rarely 
finished  his  work  before  9.30  p.m.  on  a  Sunday  night. 

"  Whitefields  was  visited  by  many  from  across  the 
sea,  both  colonials  and  Americans,  and  all  were  impressed 
by  it.  It  was  unique.  It  was  a  great  home  church,  and 
every  part  of  its  work  savoured  of  that  spirit — even  the 
kitchens  where  all  meals  were  prepared.  The  Americans 
admitted  they  had  nothing  quite  like  it.  The  person- 
ality of  the  man  was  just  everywhere,  and  that  was  nine- 
tenths  of  the  secret.  The  mere  expenditure  of  money 
did  not  make  it ;  it  helped  ;  but  the  keystone  of  the  arch 
was  just  him. 

"  Looking  back  upon  it  all  after  some  years  away  from 
it,  I  am  sure  it  was  a  success.  It  was  a  church  where  the 
machinery  was  not  heard.  Freedom  from  hard-and-fast 
lines  made  it  easy  for  men  and  women  of  every  class  to 
come  and  go.  No  one  felt  strange  or  out  of  place,  and 
voices  that  had  been  silent  for  years  found  themselves 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       185 

swept  off  their  feet  and  singing  heartily  the  great  hymns 
he  sometimes  wrote,  and  to  tunes  he  was  a  genius 
at  selecting.  Folk  who  for  years  had  kept  outside  of 
churches  became  regular  attenders,  and  he  won  them,  as 
he  always  did,  to  the  feet  of  the  Christ  he  loved  so  well. 

"  I  regretted  his  decision  to  enter  Parliament.  It  was 
bad  enough  to  become  Chairman  of  the  Congregational 
Union,  with  its  many  calls,  but  to  add  Parliament  seemed 
like  signing  his  death  warrant,  and  I  was  prepared  for 
his  breakdown.  I  never  knew  the  love  I  bore  him  till 
I  read  of  his  death  in  the  newspaper,  and  then  for  a 
moment  it  seemed  as  if  I  literally  turned  to  stone.  He 
had  simply  worked  himself  to  death." 

With  his  settlement  at  Whitefields  began  the  most 
fruitful  and  strenuous  period  of  Home's  ministry.  He 
greatly  welcomed  the  opportunity  which  the  new 
mission  gave  him  of  shaping  the  work  after  his  own  mind 
and  in  entire  freedom  from  ordinary  church  conventions. 
He  had  no  patience  with  the  "  little  garden  walled 
around  "  conception  of  the  church,  and  from  the  first 
he  sought  to  make  Whitefields  a  centre  of  applied 
Christianity.  The  neighbourhood  round  Tottenham 
Court  Road  gave  him  every  opportunity,  and  he  soon 
found  himself  in  bitter  conflict  with  the  vested  interests 
that  thrived  on  the  degradation  of  the  people.  He  was 
not  content  merely  to  do  relief  work  and  pick  up  the 
wounded  from  the  road-side,  but  determined  to  attack 
those  who  were  responsible  for  the  mischief.  Under  his 
keen  and  practical  leadership  Whitefields  steadily 
became  a  terror  to  evildoers,  and  a  sanctuary  of  refuge 
for  the  tempted  and  oppressed. 

Meanwhile,  outside  engagements  and  interests  multi- 
plied. In  December  1903  Home  went  down  into 
Shropshire  in  order  to  help  his  brother  Fred,  who  was 
standing  as  Liberal  candidate  at  a  by-election  in  the 
Ludlow  Division.  Fred  Home  had  been  moved  to  offer 


186       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

himself  for  Parliament  largely  by  his  opposition  to  the 
Education  Act,  and  it  was  one  of  the  dominant  issues  in 
the  election.  His  brother  threw  himself  into  the  fray 
with  immense  zest,  and  though  the  Liberals  were  beaten, 
he  helped  them  to  give  a  good  account  of  themselves. 
He  wrote  of  the  campaign  to  his  wife  : — 

"  December  11,  1903. 

"...  We  are  in  the  Liberal  part  of  the  constituency 
here,  and  we  had  literally  a  triumphal  progress  last  night 
through  the  Clun  district.  The  lanes  rang  all  the  way 
with  cheers  ;  and  despite  the  awful  weather,  there  was  a 
wonderful  meeting  and  not  a  dissentient  hand.  Late 
at  night  the  men  were  still  cheering  ;  and  at  no  election 
have  I  ever  seen  quite  such  enthusiasm. 

"  The  night  before  we  were  at  Bridgnorth — the  Tory 
stronghold,  and  we  had  a  noisy  and  lively  time,  but  a 
good  vote.  I  was  determined  to  talk  Temperance  to 
them,  though  a  small  mob  were  half  seas  over.  Con- 
sequently I  had  the  most  tremendous  fight  to  be  heard 
at  all.  .  .  .  We  speak  at  Bishop's  Castle  at  midday 
and  at  Stretton  to-night.  ..." 

"  December  14,  1903. 

"...  I  have  just  got  back  from  Birmingham,  where, 
despite  the  weather,  I  had  fine  congregations  and  a  good 
time.  Down  here  we  have  had  very  extraordinary 
times.  The  meeting  at  Stretton — said  to  be  a  Tory 
stronghold — was  the  most  amazing  success,  and  the 
reports  everywhere  are  of  the  rising  hopes  of  the  Liberals. 
Still  I  am  quite  prepared  to  hear  that  the  Tories  will 
rally  this  week,  and  we  have  a  hard  campaign  in  front 
of  us.  We  are  all  very  fit  and  full  of  fight.  Chamber- 
lain is  being  fairly  met  and  beaten  in  argument ;  and 
they  will  take  as  much  Education  speech  down  here  as 
you  can  give  them.  Hutton  comes  down  to-morrow, 
and  he  and  I  speak  at  Bishop's  Castle.  To-night  the 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       187 

great  thing  is  the  meeting  for  the  railway-men  at 
Craven  Arms.  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  be  a  tremendous 
success.  You  can  easily  understand  how  men  of  fixed 
incomes  view  a  general  rise  in  prices.  It  would  mean 
hard  times  for  them,  for  the  Companies  are  not  in  the 
least  degree  likely  to  raise  their  wages." 

"  December  14,  1903. 

"...  We  had  a  very  big  meeting  at  Craven  Arms 
last  night.  There  was  some  disturbance  at  first,  and  the 
police  turned  two  or  three  drunken  men  out.  After 
that  it  was  absolutely  unanimous  and  most  enthusiastic. 
To-day  is  nomination  day,  after  which  we  are  off 
to  Lydbury  North  and  Bishop's  Castle  for  two 
meetings.  ..." 

"  December  14,  1903. 

"...  We  had  a  spirited  and  interesting  day  yester- 
day. At  a  little  village  called  Lydbury  North  we  had 
a  big  crowd,  including  the  parson,  and  there  was  not  a 
hand  against  the  vote  of  confidence.  Then  we  motored 
on  to  Bishop's  Castle  and  found  Hutton  in  possession 
of  a  huge  meeting.  The  enthusiasm  was  extraordinary. 
Jesse  Collings  had  been  speaking  there  an  hour  or  two 
before,  and  had  devoted  most  of  his  speech  to  me.  I  wish 
I  had  heard  him.  But  I  will  get  even  with  him  yet  !  We 
motored  back  here  at  night.  I  am  now  off  to  Bridg- 
north  in  order  to  go  out  from  there  to  a  small  town  called 
Ditton  Priors.  .  .  ." 

Part  of  the  year  1904  was  spent  in  building  up 
the  work  at  Whitefields  and  in  many  flying  visits  to 
different  parts  of  the  country,  chiefly  in  the  interests 
of  the  mission,  explaining  its  programme  and  appealing 
for  funds.  The  financial  problem  was  still  a  serious  one, 
and  Home  had  to  depend  largely  on  his  own  efforts  to 
secure  the  necessary  support.  It  was  work  which  he 
disliked ;  but  he  had  a  good  cause,  and  he  threw  himself 


188       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

into  it  with  all  possible  ardour.  Other  interests,  too, 
claimed  him.  In  April  we  find  him  in  South  Wales 
speaking  on  the  liquor  question.  "  There  was  a  tre- 
mendous crowd,  and  nothing  was  more  applauded  than 
when  I  said  the  churches  ought  to  counteract  the  influence 
of  the  public-houses  and  not  bring  railing  accusations 
against  those  who  do  try.  As  soon  as  they  saw  the  drift 
of  my  sentence  they  cheered,  and  shouted  for  minutes." 
In  May  he  was  in  Scotland  taking  part  in  "  the  greatest 
demonstration  anyone  can  remember  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Scottish  Congregational  Union.  They  were  over- 
powering in  their  enthusiasm,  and  I  made  a  good  fighting 
speech,  which  fetched  them  tremendously."  In  the 
summer  Mr.  W.  W.  Pilkington  took  him  for  a  cruise  on 
the  south  coast  in  his  yacht  the  Asterope,  which  greatly 
set  him  up.  In  the  course  of  it  he  visited  his  brother 
Fred,  who  was  lying  seriously  ill  at  Torquay.  He  was 
attended  by  Dr.  Huxley,  who  turned  out  to  be  a  distant 
connection  of  the  family.  Home  wrote  to  his  wife  : — 

"...  The  lark  about  the  doctor  is  that  he  is  Mother's 
second  cousin.  I  knew  there  were  Huxley s  in  the  family, 
but  never  suspected  this  man  to  be  one  of  them.  He  was 
a  Silvester  by  his  mother.  He  said  to  Fred, '  Let  me  see ; 
have  you  not  a  brother  who  is  a  Radical  preacher  ? 
an  awful  Radical,  isn't  he  ?  '  Fred  admitted  the  soft 
impeachment,  whereupon  the  doctor  said  he  should  like 
to  meet  me.  When  told  that  he  had  met  me  his  astonish- 
ment was  boundless.  Such  a  mild-mannered  person  to 
be  a  Radical  preacher  !  However,  he  has  invited  me  to 
dinner  to-morrow,  and  I  am  going.  He  married  a  titled 
lady.  .  .  ." 

The  autumn  of  this  year  found  Home  again  in  Scotland, 
engaged  in  a  rapid  campaign  of  preaching  and  speaking, 
and  incidentally  obtaining  help  for  Whitefields.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  all  this  was  in  addition  to  his 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       189 

regular  work  of  preaching  at  the  mission  on  Sundays 
and  running  its  organizations  during  the  week,  it  will 
be  realized  what  a  heavy  strain  he  was  putting  on  him- 
self. He  took  it  all  very  lightly,  but  his  letters  contain 
frequent  references  to  his  feeling  the  burden  both  of 
years  and  cares.  They  are  mostly  jocular  in  form,  but 
they  tell  a  tale  nevertheless.  The  following  extracts 
from  letters  to  his  wife  give  some  hints  as  to  his  outside 
activities  at  this  period  : — 

"  January  5,   1905. 

"  I  am  just  off  to  Glasgow.  Imagine  poor  me  being 
whirled  through  the  snow  from  point  to  point  of  this 
inhospitable  and  savage  land  !  But  the  people  are 
wonderfully  appreciative  ;  and  Whitefields  is  in  every- 
body's mouth.  With  any  luck  in  the  weather  we  ought 
to  have  a  big  time  at  Glasgow.  ..." 

"  January  7,  1905. 

"...  I  reckon  that  on  my  last  statement  another 
£5,000  will  clear  us  absolutely.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
we  have  raised  all  the  money  for  the  old  debt,  and  now 
are  going  for  our  new  expenditure.  The  amount  we 
have  raised  in  eighteen  months  is  really  remarkable,  as 
I  am  sure  the  statement  at  the  opening  will  show.  ..." 

"  January  14,  1905. 

"...  We  are  up  to  our  necks  in  work.  On  the 
Thursday  after  the  opening  you  and  I  are  to  receive 
the  young  people.  We  hope  to  have  1,000  present. 
Then  on  Saturday  comes  the  Men's  Club  opening.  So 
we  are  in  for  a  week  of  it  with  a  vengeance.  All  is 
going  well  except  the  electric  lighting.  That  is  dis- 
gracefully behind,  and  it  will  be  a  fight  to  get  it  finished 
in  time.  We  had  a  row  royal  with  them  yesterday 
about  it. 


190       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

"  LANCASHIRE  COLLEGE,  MANCHESTER, 

"  February  16,  1905. 

"It  is  lovely  weather  here,  and  I  had  excellent  golf 
yesterday  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mersey,  and  feel  quite  set 
up.  Adeney  is  a  delightful  host,  as  you  may  suppose. 
Yesterday  we  went  to  the  Central  Mission  at  Salford — 
I  think  almost  the  most  desolate,  dark,  heart-breaking 
neighbourhood  I  ever  saw.  There  was  a  great  crowd,  and 
the  Mission  is  undoubtedly  doing  well ;  but  they  sadly 
need  better  premises." 

"  PAISLEY, 

"  February  20,  1905. 

"It  is  very  cold,  and  snowstorms  are  constant — my 
usual  luck  in  Scotland  apparently.  The  Coatses  are 
most  kind.  I  had  a  crowded  church  this  morning,  and 
am  promised  an  even  more  tremendous  throng  to-night. 
I  do  not  think  I  am  very  disappointed  about  Birming- 
ham.1 Doubtless  it  is  all  right.  It  has  always  been  my 
good  fortune  to  have  doors  slammed  in  my  face  if  I  was 
not  intended  to  go  in.  It  saves  a  lot  of  worry  and 
anxiety.  I  long  to  be  back.  You  must  not  think  I  am 
content  away  from  home.  My  heart  tugs  away  at  me 
all  the  time.  There  are  no  bairns  like  my  bairns,  and  no 
wife  like  my  wife.  .  .  ." 

"  March  13,  1905. 

"  I  left  early  this  morning  for  Ashford,  Middlesex, 
where  we  had  a  splendid  day's  golf  with  the  pressmen. 
We  were  fairly  annihilated,  but  the  two  compensations 
were  the  exquisite  weather  and  the  fact  that  I  beat  the 
Captain  of  the  team— Carr  of  the  Daily  Mail,  a  man  with 
a  three  handicap.  I  got  home  soon  after  five,  and  had 
tea  with  the  children,  and  then  played  bricks  till  they  had 
to  go  to  bed.  ...  As  I  was  coming  home  on  Sunday 

1  This  refers  to  a  proposal  that  he  should  contest  a  division  of 
Birmingham  against  Mr.  Chamberlain.  He  was  disappointed  that 
it  came  to  nothing. 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       191 

night  two  young  fellows  came  up  and  spoke  to  me. 
They  were  very  nice  chaps  ;  and  one  of  them  said  he 
was  sure  there  was  no  theatre  in  London  where  people 
would  crowd  in  and  stand  for  two  hours  on  end  as  they 
do  at  Whitefields  at  night.  They  were  both  very  keen 
on  enlarging  the  place.  Another  young  fellow  stopped 
to  speak  to  me,  and  declared  that  from  week-end  to  week- 
end he  lived  on  Whitefields.  We  had  a  wonderful  time 
on  Sunday,  and  such  a  lot  of  people  stayed  to  talk  to 
me.  .  .  ." 

"  April  15,  1905. 

"...  It  is  a  perfect  spring  day,  very  bright  and  warm. 
...  I  do  not  feel  so  very  old  this  morning.  .  .  .  When 
we  look  at  the  bairns,  and  when  I  hear  and  read  their 
old-fashioned  ideas  and  phrases,  I  feel  one  ought  to  be 
old.  Last  night  I  was  quite  sentimental,  and  for  me 
devotional.  I  sat  and  meditated  on  my  past,  and  wrote 
in  my  diary,  and  repented  me  of  my  sins  and  made  vows 
to  be  a  more  useful  person  in  the  future.  Time  is  the 
subtle  thief  of  youth,  and  more  than  half  a  lifetime  has 
fled,  so  I  must  not  postpone  matters. 

"  I  went  to  the  House  of  Commons  yesterday  and 
successfully  raided  some  members  for  my  men's  meeting. 
John  Burns  became  quite  chummy,  seizing  me  by  the 
arm  and  calling  me  '  Silvester '  !  He  was  in  great  form, 
hitting  out  at  Keir  Hardie  and  all  who  try  to  sour  the 
workmen,  and  adjuring  me  to  be  '  sunny.'  I  don't 
know  that  I  fail  in  that  particular.  However,  we  will 
try  and  keep  the  clouds  off  our  day  .  .  .  and  live  in 
the  light.  ..." 

"  April  18,  1905. 

"  I  am  in  the  train  on  my  way  back  from  Kidder- 
minster. I  have  had  a  very  good  time.  The  congrega- 
tions at  Manchester  were,  so  they  said,  record  ones  ;  and 
considering  I  am  now  over  forty,  I  preached  fairly  well. 


192       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

On  Monday  I  went  over  Collyer's  Labour  Homes,  and 
then  went  on  to  Kidderminster,  a  very  tedious  journey. 
We  had  a  large  and  enthusiastic  meeting,  to  which  I 
spoke  for  about  an  hour  and  a  quarter." 

"  April  19,  1905. 

"...  We  had  a  magnificent  social  gathering  of  the 
Men's  Meeting  last  night.  The  Hall  was  thronged,  and 
the  proceedings  were  most  animated  and  successful. 
It  was  reported  that  the  average  attendance  is  now  700 
and  the  actual  membership  400.  Everything  prospers 
in  connection  with  the  meeting.  .  .  ." 

"  April  22,  1906. 

"...  I  have  been  tremendously  busy  of  late  !  Busy, 
that  is,  in  absurd  ways.  On  Thursday  I  went  back  to 
Enfield  with  Campbell  and  cheered  him  up.  I  really 
think  it  did  him  good.  I  rode  in  his  motor,  and  peram- 
bulated his  estate  and  devoured  his  own  home-made 
Devonshire  cream  !  He  seemed  quite  touched  by  my 
going  out  to  see  him.  Poor  boy  !  He  has  a  lonely  time 
of  it,  and  with  his  somewhat  morbid  conscience  and 
habit  of  introspection  I  am  really  sorry  for  him.  Then 
yesterday  the  service  !  The  place  was  very  nearly  full 
—about  1,000  people  I  should  say,  and  a  collection  of 
nearly  £9.  ..." 

"  May  6,  1905. 

"...  Last  night  I  went  with  ...  to  see  Bernard 
Shaw's  play  John  Bull's  Other  Island.  I  have  no  adjec- 
tive to  do  it  justice.  It  is  not  only  astonishingly  brilliant 
and  witty,  but  it  seems  to  me  profoundly  suggestive. 
There  is,  of  course,  an  undercurrent  of  irony  all  through. 
The  shallow  Liberal  candidate  is  immense  :  the  Irish 
life  in  all  its  attractiveness  and  inconsequence  is  incom- 
parable. I  should  greatly  like  you  to  see  it,  and  I  should 
like  your  Father  to  see  it.  .  .  ." 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT      198 

"  May  17,  1905. 

"...  I  was  at  the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle  last  night 
and  had  quite  an  enthusiastic  time  with  the  Primitive 
Methodists,  whom  I  always  like.  They  are  a  genial, 
generous  folk,  and  their  fire  is  consuming." 

"  July  29,  1905. 

"...  A  curious  thing  happened  to-day.  .  .  .  came 
round  here  in  great  distress  to  say  that  .  .  .  had  been 
taken  into  a  nursing  home  to  be  operated  on  for  cancer, 
and  begged  I  would  go  and  see  him.  Of  course  I  went, 
and  it  was  one  of  the  most  affecting  interviews  I  ever 
had.  He  clung  to  me  and  begged  me  to  pray  for  him. 
He  said  that  for  twenty- five  years  he  had  never  been  in 
a  church,  but  he  had  always  believed  that  Christianity 
was  true.  And  he  said  it  was  just  meeting  me  at  golf 
which  made  him  register  a  mental  note  that  if  ever  he 
were  in  need  he  would  send  for  me.  '  There's  no  pro- 
fessionalism about  you,'  he  said.  I  felt  so  glad  he  wanted 
me  to  come  ;  but  it  was  a  very  harrowing  time.  ..." 

"  September  18, 1905. 

"...  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmes  have  gone,  and  I  am  alone 
with,  oh,  such  piles  of  work.  We  had  a  tremendous  day 
yesterday  !  The  morning  service  was  crowded.  At  the 
afternoon  meeting  there  were  over  1,000  men ;  and  at 
night  the  place  was  densely  thronged  at  half-past  six. 
The  men's  welcome  took  my  breath  away.  They  all 
sprang  to  their  feet  and  cheered  for  minutes  1  Evidently 
everything  is  going  ahead  this  winter.  The  adult  school 
was  in  great  form,  and  has  added  to  its  numbers  con- 
siderably. There  are  many  things  awaiting  you  and 
your  decision." 

In  the  autumn  of  1905  Home  published,  through  the 
Free  Church  Council,  a  pamphlet  on  Nonconformity  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century.    It  was  a  really  brilliant  summary 
13 


194       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

of  the  concluding  stages  in  the  great  struggle  for 
religious  freedom,  and  an  enthusiastic,  though  not  over- 
drawn, appreciation  of  the  part  played  by  the  Free 
Churches  in  the  religious,  social,  educational,  and  political 
movements  of  the  Victorian  era.  It  is  still  well  worth 
reading.  At  the  same  time  he  began  to  contribute  a 
weekly  article  on  public  questions  to  the  Examiner,  and 
continued  it  for  some  time.  He  had  a  free  hand,  and 
wrote  strongly  and  vividly  on  current  topics,  mainly 
ecclesiastical  and  political.  It  was  journalism  of  the 
best  kind.  Nothing  has  been  said  hitherto  of  the  part 
Home  took  in  founding  and  promoting  this  newspaper, 
which  for  about  ten  years  was  the  organ  of  the  Congre- 
gational churches.  He  did  a  great  deal,  along  with  the 
Rev.  Hardy  Harwood,  to  find  money  for  the  enterprise, 
was  a  most  useful  member  of  the  board  of  directors, 
and  a  regular  contributor  to  its  pages.  It  was  thankless 
work,  and  he  often  lamented  the  lack  of  support  given 
to  the  paper ;  but  his  splendid  denominational  loyalty 
kept  him  at  it.  O  si  sic  omnes  ! 

In  the  early  weeks  of  1906  a  General  Election  took 
place,  which  resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Con- 
servative Government  and  the  triumphant  return  of  the 
Liberals  under  Sir  Henry  Campbell-Bannerman.  The 
chief  issues  in  the  contest  were  Free  Trade,  education, 
licensing,  and  Mr.  Balfour's  policy  in  South  Africa. 
Home  threw  himself  into  the  fray  with  immense  ardour, 
and  rejoiced  exceedingly  over  the  result.  He  was  in 
great  demand  as  a  speaker,  not  only  in  and  around 
London,  but  much  further  afield.  He  wrote  of  one  of 
his  motor  tours  in  the  Examiner  : — 

"  Mr.  J.  D.  Jones  and  I  had  probably  the  toughest 
tour  of  all  from  the  party  standpoint,  for  our  route  lay 
through  the  Midlands.  We  shall  not  easily  forget  our 
first  meeting  at  Aylesbury,  where  the  Town  Hall  was  at 
the  mercy  of  a  small  but  intoxicated  mob  of  hooligans. 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       195 

Not  a  word  could  be  spoken.  The  hall  was  crowded 
with  a  splendid  assemblage  of  Liberals,  but  no  order 
could  be  maintained,  and  we  had  to  execute  a  strategic 
retreat  to  the  Congregational  Chapel,  where  an  enthusi- 
astic meeting  was  held  and  the  rights  of  free  speech 
vindicated.  Evidently  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Silas  Hock- 
ing are  frightened,  as  well  they  may  be,  for  he  has  fought 
magnificently  against  the  Rothschild  ascendancy.  At 
Stony  Stratford  and  Wolverton,  on  the  following  day, 
very  different  scenes  awaited  us.  In  the  latter  town  we 
must  have  addressed  two  or  three  thousands  of  railway- 
men,  and  a  most  responsive  audience  it  was.  We 
travelled  on  to  the  Birmingham  area,  and  spoke  at  night 
against  Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain  at  Sparkhill.  The 
meeting  was  large,  orderly,  and  enthusiastic.  The 
next  day  found  us  in  Shropshire,  flying  from  village  to 
village  in  the  Clun  district,  and  addressing  crowded 
meetings  everywhere.  On  Saturday  I  had  to  bear  the 
burden  alone,  which  was,  perhaps,  the  reason  why  I  got 
into  a  ditch,  and  had  to  be  dragged  out  by  a  Liberal 
horse.  However,  all's  well  that  ends  well,  and  I  was 
amply  repaid  by  great  meetings  for  any  wear  and  tear 
in  the  good  cause." 

Of  the  election  campaign  and  its  results  Home  wrote 
to  his  wife  in  the  highest  spirits  : — 

"  January  10,  1906. 

"...  The  meeting  at  South  Birmingham  was  quite 
the  liveliest  one  I  have  addressed  so  far  at  this  election. 
I  had  a  very  good  hearing,  but  had  to  speak  for  forty- 
five  minutes  amid  a  very  diverting  series  of  interpolations, 
which  added  greatly  to  the  zest  of  the  proceedings. 
They  are  making  big  fights  in  Birmingham  against 
tremendous  odds.  Every  hoarding  is  captured  by  the 
Tariff  Reformers.  The  Liberal  meetings  are  ignored  by 
the  Press.  Not  a  word  can  be  heard  from  our  side  except 
at  meetings.  It  is  the  last  desperate  fight  for  a  rotten 


196       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

cause,  for  which  all  freedom  has  had  to  be  suppressed. 
But  even  so  our  workers  are  marvellously  encouraged, 
and  canvassing  returns  are  said  to  be  excellent. 

"  Do  you  see  that  Balfour's  election  is  on  Saturday  ? 
If  he  goes  out,  as  I  hear  is  very  probable,  and  if  Winston 
Churchill  wins,  as  is  almost  certain,  it  will  mean  blue 
ruin  for  Toryism  everywhere.  .  .  ." 

"  January  12,  1906. 

"...  We  are  certainly  not  dying  of  dullness.  The 
fun  is  fast  and  furious.  ...  I  spoke  for  the  Labour 
candidate  at  Gravesend  yesterday  at  1  o'clock.  Then 
at  night  I  spoke  with  G.  W.  E.  Russell  at  the  Drill  Hall, 
Hampstead,  a  densely  packed  meeting  and  most  en- 
thusiastic. Then  I  got  back  to  South  St.  Pancras, 
where  we  had  a  perfectly  glorious  meeting.  Certainly 
we  are  going  very  strong,  and  have  a  wonderful 
canvass.  .  .  ." 

"  January  14,  1906. 

"  It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  you  have  missed  in  your 
rural  seclusion  the  sensation  of  a  century.  To  the  end 
of  one's  life  I  can  never  forget  Saturday  night,  and  I 
would  have  given  all  my  banker's  balance  to  have  had 
you  at  my  side.  We  began  at  Whitefields  at  8.30,  the 
place  being  densely  crowded.  At  10  o'clock  the  editor 
of  the  Daily  Chronicle  was  on  his  feet,  when  we  heard  a 
roar  in  the  street,  and  up  came  a  man  with  a  tape. 
Churchill  in  !  Then  followed  the  various  Manchester 
divisions  one  after  the  other.  Any  attempt  to  continue 
our  meeting  properly  was  ridiculous.  Bradford  came 
next — the  same  story.  Still  we  waited  for  the  big 
Manchester  verdict.  Then  at  last  there  was  a  sound 
of  the  multitude  outside  as  the  screen  told  the  fatal 
news,  and  in  ran  W.  to  us,  breathless  and  almost 
hysterical.  The  whole  meeting  was  on  its  feet.  Every- 
body forgot  everything.  '  Balfour's  out,'  they  yelled, 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       197 

Connell  was  trying  to  speak,  and  bellowing  at  the  top  of 
his  voice, '  Two  thousand  majority  ! '  I  was  standing  on 
a  chair  waving  my  handkerchief,  and  it  is  a  literal  fact 
that  until  we  were  physically  exhausted  there  was  no 
cessation.  In  came  the  telegrams.  Everywhere  the 
Tories  swept  out  of  existence.  London  was  the  cul- 
mination. By  this  time  we  were  like  a  rag  that  has 
been  through  the  mangle.  Thousands  were  frantic  in 
the  Tottenham  Court  Road.  The  wild  hurrahs  of  the 
multitude  were  incessant.  Wallace's  triumph  at  Perth 
stirred  up  the  enthusiasm  afresh.  Then  York,  Ply- 
mouth, Morpeth,  and  the  rest.  Holmes  turned  us 
out  at  last ;  but  nobody  will  ever  forget  it.  It  was 
one  of  the  greatest  nights  in  England's  political 
history. 

"  To-morrow — London ;  and  I  think  we  shall  sweep 
the  Metropolis  now.  ..." 

"  January  16,  1906. 

"...  I  am  still  alive,  and  my  throat  is  a  little  better, 
notwithstanding  last  night  in  the  market-place.  It 
was  a  huge  meeting,  and  they  listened  to  me  for  an  hour 
with  perfect  respect  and  cordiality.  Not  an  interrup- 
tion. I  had  a  really  good  time,  and  the  leading  Tories 
who  were  present  have  been  loud  in  their  praises.  .  .  . 
came  in  the  morning,  and  said  it  was  the  finest  speech  he 
ever  heard  in  his  life  !  So  there  ! 

"  Isn't  London  glorious  ?  And  St.  Pancras  especially. 
At  last  we  have  sounded  the  doom  of  Tory  ascendancy 
in  our  part  of  the  world.  I  am  as  much  amazed  at  South 
St.  Pancras  as  at  any  result,  for  to  the  last  I  had  a 
feeling  that  we  could  not  win.  It  is  tremendous.  The 
results  still  come  pouring  in.  I  see  Newcastle  is  Liberal 
by  7,000  majority.  What  a  time  !  Hasn't  it  more 
than  atoned  for  all  the  misery  and  suffering  of  these 
last  years  to  see  the  soul  of  England  awake  at 
last  ?  .  ,  ." 


198       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  Home  had  a  motor  tour 
among  the  country  churches  of  Hampshire  and  the 
neighbourhood.  His  companion,  as  usual  on  these 
occasions,  was  Dr.  J.  D.  Jones,  who  writes  of  this  work 
in  a  separate  chapter. 

Early  in  1908  Home  paid  a  visit  to  Ireland.  Mr. 
Birrell  was  then  Chief  Secretary,  and  the  friendship 
between  them  made  Home  anxious  to  study  the  Irish 
question  on  the  spot.  He  devoted  himself  especially 
to  the  education  question,  and  had  the  opportunity  of 
meeting  men  of  all  churches  and  parties.  He  returned 
home  with  a  good  deal  of  information,  which  he  found 
useful  afterwards,  and  a  dawning  hope  that  it  might  be 
given  to  Mr.  Birrell  to  find  the  solution  of  the  Irish  ques- 
tion at  last.  Though  his  hopes  were  not  realized,  he 
never  wavered  in  his  admiration  for  the  tact  and  devotion 
of  the  Chief  Secretary  through  those  difficult  years. 
The  autumn  of  the  same  year  found  Home  engaged  in 
an  abortive  attempt  to  settle  the  education  controversy. 
In  his  diary  he  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
negotiations  : — 

"  November  18,  1908. — It  seems  not  improbable  that 
to-night  will  witness  the  close  of  a  long  and  not  ignoble 
controversy — I  mean  the  fight  for  a  national  system  of 
education.  I  have  not  written  much  in  my  diary  of 
the  six  years  of  conflict  since  Mr.  Balfour  drove  through 
the  Legislature  his  disastrous  Bill  in  1902.  In  doing  so 
he  roused  Nonconformist  England  as  it  has  seldom  in 
its  history  been  roused  ;  and  he  destroyed  his  own  party. 
At  the  General  Election  nothing  was  more  prominent 
than  this  issue,  and  the  return  of  some  200  Noncon- 
formist members  to  the  House  of  Commons  was  the 
result.  I  need  not  record  here  the  failure  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  force  any  satisfactory  Education  measure 
through  the  House  of  Lords.  Mr.  Birrell  failed.  Mr. 
McKenna,  who  succeeded  him,  tried  to  legislate  for  the 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       199 

Passive  Resisters,  and  had  to  withdraw  his  measure. 
Then  he  introduced  a  Bill  with  a  contracting-out  clause, 
and  it  was  hung  up.  He  retired,  and  Mr.  Walter 
Runciman  took  over  the  difficult  and  somewhat  thank- 
less task.  Gradually,  however,  the  leaders  of  the  Church 
party  came  to  see  that  either  the  purely  secular  solution 
would  prevail,  or  they  must  come  to  terms.  What  I 
propose  to  do  is  to  set  out  in  this  diary  what  I  personally 
know  about  the  recent  negotiations.  Rumours  had 
reached  us  all  that  the  Archbishop  was  not  unwilling 
to  compromise,  and  about  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks 
back  Mr.  Runciman  met  a  few  Nonconformists — Mr. 
Shakespeare,  Mr.  Scott-Lidgett,  Sir  George  White,  Sir 
J.  Compton-Rickett,  Dr.  Clifford,  and  myself,  and  told  us 
something  of  the  suggested  terms  of  settlement.  The 
Archbishop  has  sent  in  to  Mr.  Asquith  some  notes — 
very  scanty  and  singularly  indefinite,  but  pointing  in  the 
direction  of  accommodation.  When  the  others  had  left, 
Mr.  Runciman  called  me  back  and  asked  me  if  I  would  pre- 
pare a  formal  reply  to  be  sent  in  to  Mr.  Asquith  putting 
the  Nonconformist  case  as  against  some  of  these  pro- 
posals. I  undertook  to  do  this  in  conjunction  with  Mr. 
Shakespeare  ;  and  the  following  morning  three  of  us— 
Scott-Lidgett  having  been  also  called  in— spent  some 
hours  in  drafting  a  reply.  Ours  certainly  did  not  lack 
definiteness,  for  we  knew  exactly  what  we  wanted,  and 
where  the  possible  area  of  compromise  lay.  There  were 
two  outstanding  points  for  negotiation.  The  one  was  a 
statutory  right  of  entrance  for  some  denominational 
teacher  into  all  schools,  and  the  other  the  right  of  the 
Head  Teacher  to  volunteer  to  teach  denominationalism. 
We  were  strongly  opposed  to  the  right  having  been 
yielded  for  the  Clergy  to  enter  the  Council  Schools  ; 
and  we  were  resolute  that  no  Head  Teacher  should  be 
subject  to  an  illicit  test  by  being  permitted  to  teach 
denominationalism.  This  document  was  sent  in.  So 
strong  was  its  tone  that  I  am  assured  that  Mr.  Asquith 


200       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

was  profoundly  depressed  by  it,  thinking  a  settlement 
almost  impossible.  After  a  day  or  two  Runciman 
sent  for  me  to  lunch  with  him,  and  showed  me  various 
letters — including  a  very  important  one  from  Lang,  then 
Bishop  of  Stepney.  He  also  told  me  the  opinions  of 
various  Educationists  such  as  Mr.  Arthur  Acland.  It 
was  clear  that  if  the  statutory  right  of  entry  were  con- 
ceded by  us  a  bargain  could  be  struck,  despite  the  bitter 
opposition  of  the  High  Church  clerics  and  such  laymen 
as  Lord  Halifax  and  Lord  Hugh  Cecil.  I  went  that  night 
to  consult  my  father-in-law,  who  took  a  very  decided 
view  that  the  right  of  entry  under  guarded  conditions 
would  mean  little,  and  that  to  have  the  Anglican  Schools 
brought  under  public  control  was  an  immense  national 
gain.  The  main  difficulty  that  I  saw  was  in  persuading 
Dr.  Clifford  ;  and  Runciman  said  outright  that  if  Clifford 
was  against  him  he  could  not  and  would  not  go  on.  I 
telegraphed  to  Shakespeare  to  come  and  see  me,  and  he 
came  down  early  next  morning.  He  proved  himself 
then,  as  he  commonly  does,  a  most  astute  adviser,  and 
he  made  one  fruitful  and  practical  suggestion.  He 
pointed  out  that  we  were  not  at  the  stage  of  bargaining, 
and  suggested  that  we  should  demand  from  the  Govern- 
ment the  erection  and  equipment  of  two  undenomina- 
tional State  Training  Colleges  in  order  to  settle  the  old 
grievance  of  insufficient  accommodation  for  Free  Church 
teachers.  Thereupon  I  posted  off  to  Runciman,  and 
submitted  this  proposal  to  him.  He  said  nothing  for 
a  few  minutes.  Then  he  turned  to  me  and  said,  '  I  think 
it  is  a  good  suggestion.'  He  put  a  few  objections,  and 
of  course  said  it  was  largely  a  matter  for  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer.  When  we  had  finished  our  interview 
I  walked  down  with  him  to  the  Education  Office,  where 
we  met  Lidgett  and  the  rest.  Clifford  was  ill  in  bed. 
Runciman  sketched  to  the  others  the  possible  terms  of 
peace.  We  did  not  agree  or  disagree  ;  but  Shakespeare 
and  I  undertook  to  see  Clifford.  I  should  say  that  at  this 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       201 

meeting  Runciman  trotted  out  the  idea  of  the  Training 
Colleges  as  if  it  was  a  brilliant  inspiration  of  his  own. 
Well,  that  afternoon  we  found  Clifford  in  bed.  He  was 
naturally  much  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  having  to 
concede  entry  to  the  Council  Schools,  but,  as  ever,  was 
wise  and  statesmanlike.  Eventually  we  got  him  to 
agree  that  while  he  could  not  accept  that  proposal,  yet  if 
it  were  made  the  basis  of  a  compromise  his  opposition 
would  be  modified  if  the  Government  would  promise  the 
Training  Colleges.  The  difficulty  was  that  in  arguing 
the  matter  with  our  people  we  could  not  mention  the 
Training  Colleges,  as  that  would  only  irritate  the  clerics 
and  increase  their  demands.  Events  now  moved  rapidly. 
There  was  a  meeting  of  the  Nonconformist  Members  of 
Parliament,  and  with  about  six  exceptions  they  voted 
for  the  compromise,  and  never  thought  of  bargaining 
for  Training  Colleges  !  Then  came  a  most  grotesque 
meeting  of  the  Education  Committee  of  the  Free  Church 
Council,  at  which  .  .  .  tiraded  against  the  whole  suggested 
settlement  in  no  measured  terms.  The  Baptist  Union 
Committee  agreed  by  50  to  1  that  the  compromise  should 
be  accepted.  To-day  I  went  alone  with  Shakespeare 
to  see  Runciman  at  his  request,  and  it  appeared  that  the 
only  point  left  was  the  Head  Teacher,  and  whether  he 
should  or  should  not  be  allowed  to  continue  denomina- 
tional teaching  during  his  educational  lifetime.  This  is  a 
form  of  compromise  which  surrenders  nothing  absolutely 
so  far  as  the  future  is  concerned,  and  exacts  no  new  test 
for  any  teacher.  Under  it,  as  it  seems  to  me,  denomi- 
nationalism  in  education  will  die  a  natural  death.  We 
both  urged  Runciman  to  close  the  bargain  if  he  could 
get  the  Church  to  agree  on  these  terms.  While  we  were 
there  news  came  that  the  Archbishop,  with  London, 
Southwark,  and  Stepney,  were  considering  an  absolute 
acceptance  of  the  Government's  terms.  The  reply  is  to 
be  sent  to-night.  At  Runciman's  suggestion  Shakespeare 
and  I  went  on  to  the  House  of  Commons  and  saw  Lloyd 


202       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

George  in  his  private  room.  We  wanted  to  put  him  in 
touch  with  Nonconformist  opinion,  and  make  him  realize 
that  it  was  not  the  existing  Head  Teacher  that  was  the 
crux  of  the  compromise,  it  was  the  Council  School. 
That  is  what  we  surrender,  and  in  return  we  get  public 
control — not  perfect  but  very  substantial — abolition 
of  tests  in  the  appointments  of  all  teachers,  denomina- 
tionalism  off  the  rates,  and  the  preservation  of  the  Bible 
lesson  in  the  schools.  These  are  the  open  gains.  Then 
there  is  the  understanding  about  the  Training  Colleges. 
This  latter  is  due  simply  to  Shakespeare  and  myself, 
and  the  origination  of  the  idea  was  solely  his.  This 
is,  I  believe,  the  full  and  faithful  narrative  of  the  trans- 
actions as  to  the  compromise  so  far  as  I  personally  was 
concerned  in  them. 

"  P.S. — After  all,  nothing  came  of  these  proposals. 
The  High  Churchmen  in  Convocation  threw  over 
their  Bishops  and  destroyed  all  chances  of  a  settle- 
ment." 


In  June  1909  Home  went  to  Germany  as  one  of  a 
deputation  to  the  German  churches  and  people  in  the 
interests  of  a  better  understanding  between  the  two 
nations.  A  deputation  from  the  German  churches  had 
visited  this  country  the  previous  year,  and  the  very  cordial 
spirit  which  was  then  manifested  had  kindled  great  hopes. 
The  whole  story  reads  rather  sadly  in  view  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  German  religious  leaders  during  the  war. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  English  Christians  were 
thoroughly  justified,  by  the  friendly  approaches  of  their 
German  brethren,  in  doing  everything  they  could  to  meet 
them.  Outwardly  at  least  the  deputation  was  a  great 
success.  Its  members  were  entertained  with  lavish 
hospitality,  and  welcomed  with  a  warmth  that  seemed 
genuine  enough.  Home  wrote  of  his  own  experiences 
to  his  wife  : — 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       203 

"  S.S.  Meteor, 

"June  9,    1909. 

"...  We  have  been  steaming  slowly  across  the  North 
Sea  for  nearly  twenty-four  hours,  and  are  expected  to 
arrive  at  Cuxhaven,  where  we  alight  to  take  train  to 
Hamburg,  about  3  o'clock  this  afternoon.  Yesterday  was 
the  most  glorious  blue  day,  with  only  enough  ripple  to 
make  the  surface  of  the  sea  beautiful.  To-day  is  somewhat 
cloudy,  and  there  is  a  little  movement  of  the  ship,  though 
not  enough,  I  should  imagine,  to  upset  any  but  the 
weakest  brethren.  I  cannot  possibly  describe  to  you  the 
magnificence  of  the  German  hospitality.  This  vessel  is 
most  sumptuously  furnished.  Everbody  has  a  cabin  to 
himself,  and  our  wants  are  anticipated  at  every  turn. 
As  for  the  meals,  well,  each  one  is  a  banquet  of  a  most 
artistic  order.  They  smother  us  with  guide-books  and 
all  kinds  of  literature  bearing  on  the  two  nations,  the 
Churches,  and  the  purpose  of  our  visit.  The  German 
Committee  on  board  consist  of  the  most  delightful  of 
men — very  enthusiastic  and  with  elaborate  courtesies, 
but  eager  to  make  everybody  feel  at  home.  We  have 
had  many  speeches,  all  breathing  the  same  spirit  of 
goodwill  and  mutual  appreciation.  The  Roman 
Catholics  here  are,  I  should  say,  carefully  chosen  to 
make  a  good  impression.  They  include  my  friend 
President  Windle,  of  Queen's  College,  Cork,  to  whom 
Birrell  sent  me  about  the  Irish  University.  All  of 
them  are  able  men,  and  know  how  to  hold  up  their 
end  of  the  stick.  We  have  only  four  Bishops  on 
board — Percival,  Welldon,  Taylor  Smith,  and  Percival 
Baynes ;  the  latter  is  surely,  from  his  account  to 
me,  a  sort  of  connection  of  yours  !  There  is  a  parson, 
who  is  something  at  St.  George's  Hospital,  who 
came  and  claimed  acquaintance  on  the  score  of 
friendship  with  .  .  . 

"  When  we  arrived  the  ship  was  decked  with  flags 
from  stem  to  stern,  and  a  band  was  playing  on  deck. 


204       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

The  band  plays  a  regular  programme  during  meals  and 
on  deck  in  the  evening. 

"  We  have  evidently  a  heavy  week  of  engagements 
in  front  of  us,  for  there  is  quite  a  pile  of  elaborate  invi- 
tations to  state  and  civic  banquets.  ..." 

"  En  route  to  BERLIN, 
"  June  11,   1909. 

"...  Our  programmes  leave  us  not  a  minute  for 
letter-writing,  and  so  I  am  trying  to  get  something 
written  in  the  train.  We  ha,ve  had  a  marvellous  time 
at  Hamburg.  I  stayed  with  delightful  people,  who 
spoke  English  well,  and  sang  and  played  to  us  in  great 
form.  The  day's  proceedings  began  with  a  meeting 
in  one  of  the  finest  of  the  Lutheran  churches.  The 
music  was  worthy  of  the  best  Cathedral  choir.  Dr. 
Grimm,  glorious  in  his  Lutheran  ruff,  made  an  oration 
of  welcome  in  German  and  Newton  Marshall  replied 
most  admirably  in  a  bi-lingual  speech.  Then  we  drove 
round  the  lakes  and  saw  something  of  the  extreme  beauty 
of  Hamburg,  which  seems  to  me  the  loveliest  continental 
city  I  ever  saw.  It  is  all  avenues,  open  spaces,  lakes, 
and  harbour.  Our  first  banquet  was  in  the  Rathaus,  with 
the  Burgomeister  in  the  chair.  It  was  a  splendid  and 
elaborate  function,  and  the  President's  speech  was  the 
most  notable  oration  from  a  civic  dignitary  I  ever  heard. 
It  was  the  more  significant  as  he  is  a  close  friend  of  the 
Emperor,  and  his  declarations  for  peace  had  no  uncertain 
sound.  Then  we  went  round  the  harbour,  which  is  quite 
a  wonderful  sight,  and  at  night  had  a  second  most 
sumptuous  banquet  in  a  great  hotel  on  the  lake.  The 
speeches  were  good,  and  received  with  great  enthusiasm. 
At  the  close  we  went  out  into  a  perfect  night  for  illumina- 
tions and  fireworks  on  the  lake.  The  scene  was  like 
a  glorified  Venice,  with  multitudes  of  boats  carrying 
Japanese  lanterns.  The  rockets  were  tremendous  and 
the  set  piece  most  elaborate.  Then  the  military  band 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       205 

played  music  to  an  immense  crowd,  and  we  got  home 
about  midnight.  ..." 


"  BERLIN, 

"  June  13,  1909. 

"  .  .  .  It  is  hopeless  to  try  to  write  to  you  all  that  has 
happened  to  us  since  we  arrived  here,  for  every  available 
hour  has  been  filled.  First  of  all  I  must  tell  you  about 
my  hostess,  who  is  a  very  charming  person  connected 
with  the  Von  Rankes — the  great  historian  and  his  family. 
Did  I  tell  you  that  she  broke  her  arm  the  day  before  I 
arrived,  but  most  pluckily  got  up  and  received  me  at 
the  house  ?  In  the  evening  Fraulein — whose  name  I 
have  discovered  is  Von  Heylen-Linden — took  me  down 
to  the  great  Philharmonic  Halle,  where  there  was  by  far 
the  biggest  and  most  brilliant  audience  we  have  had. 
There  were  two  thousand  people  present,  and  the  Hall 
was  covered  with  little  tables  at  which  they  served  tea. 
This  was  the  meeting  at  which  I  had  to  speak,  and  as  I 
had  taken  some  trouble,  you  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  I 
got  on  pretty  well.  The  thing  that  pleased  me  most  was 
that  Harnack  came  up  and  thanked  me,  and  declared 
he  was  honoured  to  meet  me.  This  pleased  me  more 
than  anything  that  ever  happened,  for  I  think  him 
probably  the  greatest  living  literary  man  in  Europe. 
After  this  I  was  smothered  with  congratulations,  even 
our  Roman  Catholic  representatives  being  more  than 
kind.  Next  day  we  visited  striking  places  in  Berlin, 
which  is  certainly  a  most  stately  and  beautiful  city  full 
of  avenues  and  statues,  and  monuments  celebrating 
victory.  At  midday  was  the  grand  municipal  banquet, 
at  which  we  were  received  by  the  Burgomasters  with 
their  chains  of  office.  It  was  a  fine  occasion  ;  but  the 
great  sensation  of  our  table  was  caused  by  the  scepticism 
of  a  very  demonstrative  Burgomaster  as  to  my  age.  He 
would  not  believe  that  I  had  been  a  paster  twenty  years 
in  London.  Then  he  asked  me  if  I  had  any  children 


206       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

and  to  satisfy  him  that  I  had  seven  I  produced  their 
photos.  This  excited  him  beyond  words.  He  jumped 
up  and  showed  it  to  another  Burgomaster,  who  by  chance 
had  seven  children  too,  and  he  seized  me  by  the  hand 
and  shouted  with  laughter.  There  was  quite  a  scene, 
and  we  English  enjoyed  the  fun  hugely.  '  Ach  ! '  cried 
this  German  Burgomaster,  *  Germanic  must  grow  if  you 
haf  families  so  big— Yes  ?  '  (Great  guffaws.) 

"  I  did  my  shopping  for  the  children  in  the  afternoon, 
and  then  at  night  we  went  to  the  house  of  Graf  (Count) 
Douglas,  where  we  were  entertained  by  the  Prussian 
House  of  Commons — glorious  in  orders  and  decorations 
and  uniforms.  I  sat  next  to  Herr  Graf  von  Recke- 
Wolmerstein — there's  a  name  for  you  ! — a  dear,  benevo- 
lent old  gentleman,  who  chatted  away  about  England 
and  peace.  .  .  ." 

In  the  spring  of  1909  Home  was  elected  chairman  of 
the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales  in 
succession  to  his  friend  J.  D.  Jones.  He  entered  on  the 
work  of  the  office  a  year  later,  of  which  more  in  its  place. 
Meanwhile  other  and  wider  interests  claimed  him.  For 
some  time  past  it  had  become  clear  to  students  of  politics 
that  a  conflict  between  the  Commons  and  Lords  was 
inevitable.  The  flagrant  partizanship  of  the  Upper 
House  and  the  consequent  impotence  of  any  Liberal 
Government,  however  strongly  supported  by  the  people, 
had  produced  a  situation  that  could  no  longer  be  toler- 
ated. Matters  came  to  a  crisis  when  the  Lords  threw  out 
Mr.  Lloyd  George's  Budget,  which,  among  other  things, 
made  provision  for  the  first  time  for  old  age  pensions. 
Such  a  challenge  the  Liberals  were  bound  to  take  up,  and 
it  became  the  leading  issue  at  a  General  Election  early  in 
the  New  Year.  In  this  election  Home  was  invited  to 
contest  Ipswich  in  the  Liberal  interest,  along  with  Sir 
Daniel  Ford  Goddard,  "  than  whom  no  man  ever  had  a 
finer  and  kinder  colleague."  After  careful  consideration 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       207 

and  consultation  with  his  friends,  he  accepted  the  invita- 
tion, and  after  a  brief  but  brilliant  campaign,  was  trium- 
phantly returned.  He  had  himself  no  compunction  as 
to  his  duty  in  the  matter.  He  felt  that  the  action  of  the 
Lords  had  raised  an  issue  of  such  supreme  importance 
that  it  called  for  unusual  sacrifices.  He  felt  that 
"  the  claim  of  the  Peers  to  determine  the  financial  policy 
of  the  country  carried  us  back  to  the  days  when  John 
Hampden  broke  the  power  of  absolutism  on  this  very 
question  of  the  hereditary  right  to  tax  England  apart 
from  the  consent  of  her  representatives.  No  good 
Independent  could  be  outside  that  fight."  On  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  a  minister  should  become  a  Member 
of  Parliament  Home  was  equally  emphatic.  He  had 
no  use  for  the  glass-house  theory  of  the  ministry.  He 
regarded  a  minister,  not  as  an  ascetic  or  recluse,  but  as 
one  who  was  bound  to  put  into  practice  the  principles 
which  he  preached  to  others.  He  contended  that  the 
point  at  issue  had  been  practically  conceded  by  allowing 
ministers  to  sit  on  various  local  authorities,  and  that 
therefore  there  was  no  logic  in  their  exclusion  from  the 
national  Legislature.  It  was  but  another  and  necessary 
application  of  those  democratic  principles  for  which 
Congregationalists  stood.  He  was  therefore  proud  to 
think  that  he  was  probably  the  first  minister  in  charge 
of  a  church  who  had  sat  in  Parliament  since  the  days  of 
Mr.  Praise-God  Barebones.  When  the  invitation  from 
Ipswich  came,  he  could  see  no  reason  for  refusing  it, 
except  the  obvious  one,  that  he  had  already  quite  enough 
to  do.  It  was  the  gravity  of  the  issues  at  stake  which 
drove  him  to  make  the  sacrifice,  and  he,  at  least,  never 
regretted  it.  Before  the  year  was  out,  however,  the 
death  of  King  Edward  caused  the  dissolution  of 
Parliament,  and  a  second  election  had  to  be  held  at 
Ipswich.  Home's  colleague  was  ill  at  the  time,  and 
though  he  himself  was  then  chairman  of  the  Congre- 
gational Union,  he  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  fight. 


208       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

It  is  a  remarkable  testimony  to  his  hold  on  the 
constituency  that  he  and  his  colleague  were  returned 
by  very  much  the  same  majorities  as  on  the  previous 
occasion.  Home  himself  attributed  some  of  this 
success  to  two  very  fine  and  characteristic  speeches  de- 
livered by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  on  the  eve  of  the  poll. 

In  May  1910  Home  entered  on  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Congregational  Union.  Among  the  duties  of  the  chair- 
man is  the  delivery  of  two  addresses,  one  at  the  spring 
and  the  other  at  the  autumn  meetings,  in  which  he  is  ex- 
pected to  speak  his  mind  and  give  some  lead  to  ministers 
and  churches  on  some  question  affecting  their  life, 
work,  or  witness.  Home's  choice  of  subjects  was 
characteristic.  At  the  spring  meeting  he  spoke  on 
"  Anarchy  and  Brotherhood,"  and  in  the  autumn  on 
*'  The  Church  by  Grace  established."  In  the  former  he 
dealt  with  the  new  valuation  set  by  Christianity  on  the 
individual,  its  disintegrating  effect  on  society,  and  the 
need  for  its  legitimate  fulfilment  in  a  wider  fellowship 
and  brotherhood.  He  pleaded  for  an  international 
conception  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  claimed  that 
Congregationalism,  with  its  traditional  emphasis  on  both 
freedom  and  brotherhood,  had  a  unique  opportunity 
in  a  time  of  social  unrest  and  despair.  His  words  were 
timely  when  they  were  first  uttered,  and  recent  events 
have  only  rendered  them  the  more  so.  The  second 
address  was  a  powerful  vindication  of  the  Free  Church 
ideal  set  forth  with  humour  and  eloquence,  and  without 
a  trace  of  bitterness.  This,  too,  has  something  more 
than  a  merely  ephemeral  interest. 

For  some  time  past  the  Congregational  Union  had 
been  seriously  disturbed  by  what  came  to  be  known  as 
the  New  Theology  controversy.  It  was  caused  by  the 
teaching  of  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Campbell,  then  minister  of 
the  City  Temple,  who  stood  for  a  thin  type  of  modernist 
doctrine  hardly  distinguishable  from  Unitarianism. 
Mr.  Campbell  had  a  certain  following  among  the 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       209 

younger  ministers,  and  his  teaching  received  an  at- 
tention in  the  religious  press  quite  out  of  proportion 
to  its  worth.  This  led  to  a  reaction  among  some  of 
the  more  conservative  elements  in  the  churches,  and 
it  was  feared  that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  raise 
a  heresy  hunt  and  drive  Mr.  Campbell  and  his  followers 
from  Congregationalism.  The  matter  came  to  a  head  at 
the  May  meetings,  when  Home  was  in  the  chair.  Mr. 
Campbell  was  given  a  hearing,  and  Home  then  stated  the 
position  of  the  Union  in  a  very  wise  and  conciliatory 
speech.  The  Union  has  always  taken  up  the  position 
that  it  has  no  power  to  excommunicate.  It  suffers  men 
to  sow  their  theological  wild  oats,  and  lets  the  wheat 
and  tares  grow  together,  trusting  in  that  Divine  Spirit 
Who  leads  men  into  all  the  truth.  Its  tolerant  attitude 
was  never  more  signally  vindicated  than  in  this  case. 
The  controversy  soon  ceased,  and  later  on  Mr.  Campbell 
joined  the  Church  of  England,  and  withdrew  his  book 
on  the  New  Theology  from  circulation. 

Part  of  Home's  work  as  chairman  of  the  Union  was  to 
visit  the  churches  up  and  down  the  country.  He  could 
hardly  do  more  of  this  than  he  was  accustomed  to  in 
the  normal  course  of  things,  but  he  gave  himself  to  it 
with  his  usual  unsparing  enthusiasm.  His  position 
as  a  Member  of  Parliament  added  to  his  prestige  among 
the  churches,  and  both  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform 
he  carried  with  him  a  message  of  inspiration  and  en- 
couragement that  was  good  to  hear.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  among  the  Free  Churches  and  Brotherhoods 
all  over  the  land  he  was  looked  to  with  confidence  and 
affection  as  the  leader  of  their  choice.  In  addition  to 
his  other  duties,  he  was  vice-chairman  of  the  Brother- 
hood Council,  and  in  this  capacity  he  went  to  Paris,  with 
a  number  of  his  Brotherhood  members,  in  the  spring 
of  1911,  to  attend  the  fourth  international  conference. 
Both  at  Paris  and  Rouen  he  had  a  great  reception,  and 
made  a  very  marked  impression  on  the  French  by  the 
14 


210       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

vigour  and  vivacity  of  his  speaking.     He  wrote  of  the 
visit  to  his  wife  : — 


"April  17,  1911. 

"...  I  postponed  writing  to  you  until  our  great 
meeting  was  over  so  that  I  might  tell  you  about  it.  It 
was  at  five  o'clock,  at  the  Temple  de  1'Oratoire,  in  the 
Rue  St.  Honore,  and  it  was  a  wonderful  sight.  They 
say  there  has  been  no  such  Protestant  meeting  for  years. 
Every  inch  of  space  in  balconies,  galleries,  and  area  was 
thronged.  We  had  a  Monod,  a  D'Aubigny,  and  a  host 
of  other  famous  Frenchmen,  including  deputies,  on  a  large 
platform.  All  the  addresses  were  interpreted,  but  we 
sang  the  hymns  in  their  English  and  French  versions  to 
the  same  tune,  and  the  singing  was  very  impressive. 
I  think  you  would  agree  that  I  made  a  good  speech.  All 
the  French  people  metaphorically  fell  on  my  neck  after- 
wards ;  and  Pastor  Gonnelle,  the  Editor  of  the  Christian 
Socialist,  or  something,  discoursed  on  me  in  French  in  a 
way  to  make  me  blush.  The  thing  that  brought  the 
house  down  was  a  declamation  of  Danton's  'L'audace, 
et  1'audace  et  toujours  Paudace.'  They  fairly  shouted 
with  joy.  I  went  home  with  D'Aubigny,  and  we  have 
spent  hours  talking  politics.  He  is  a  charming  man,  and 
full  of  information.  To-morrow  we  are  to  have  a 
magnificent  reception  at  Rouen.  They  meet  us  with  a 
band  and  banners,  and  the  whole  city  is,  we  understand, 
to  be  enftte.  The  Mayor  and  dignitaries  receive  us. 

"  Our  men  are  splendid  !  They  are  behaving  magnifi- 
cently, and  are  elated  beyond  measure.  Of  course  the 
weather  is  superb.  Versailles  was  perfect,  and  Paris 
looks  its  best.  They  are  acquiring  heaps  of  information. 
Their  great  idea  is  to  find  out  about  prices,  cost  of  living, 
rent,  and  so  on.  Their  good  humour  is  inexhaustible, 
and  they  are  most  popular  everywhere.  I  am  very  proud 
of  them." 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       211 

The  following  extracts  from  diary  and  letters  deal  with 
Home's  early  experiences  in  Parliament : — 

"  I  ought  to  set  down  here  a  full  and  particular  account 
of  how  I  became  a  Member  of  Parliament.  All  good 
Liberals  and  Free  Churchmen  had  been  profoundly 
stirred  by  the  action  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  rejecting 
a  Finance  Bill — this  being  the  first  serious  interference 
with  finance  by  the  Peers  for  250  years  and  more.  All 
of  us  felt  a  call  to  do  the  best  possible  for  our  country 
in  this  hour  of  her  danger ;  but  I  confess  that  no  thought 
of  standing  for  Parliament  crossed  my  own  mind  until 
I  got  a  sudden  letter  from  Jowett  saying  that  he  must 
see  me  on  a  most  urgent  matter.  It  turned  out  that  he 
had  been  at  Merthyr  Tydvil,  and  a  deputation  had  seen 
him,  to  ask  whether  he  would  use  his  influence  to  persuade 
me  to  stand.  He  agreed  to  do  so,  and  not  only  talked 
me  round,  but  talked  Mr.  W.  H.  Brown  and  others  round, 
so  that  I  agreed  to  stand  if  I  was  asked  to  do  so.  Mean- 
while, and  before  the  decision  of  Merthyr  was  made,  my 
old  friend  Sir  Daniel  Ford  Goddard,  of  Ipswich,  rang  me 
up  on  the  telephone  to  ask  me  to  stand  as  his  colleague. 
Of  course  I  could  only  await  events  ;  and  when  the 
Merthyr  people  decided  that  they  must  have  a  bi-lingual 
candidate,  Goddard  rang  me  up  again,  and  so  urged 
matters  that  I  consented,  went  to  Ipswich,  addressed 
the  four  hundred,  and  was  unanimously  and  most 
enthusiastically  adopted.  The  following  week  we  had 
a  huge  opening  meeting  of  our  campaign,  and  then  a 
whirlwind  fortnight.  I  fancy  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  crowd  more  thrills  into  any  election  fight. 
They  tell  me  that  in  all  the  political  history  of  Ipswich 
there  have  been  no  meetings  to  compare  with  ours. 
Then,  as  it  happens,  we  had  visits  from  both  Balfour  and 
Asquith.  The  former  let  his  party  down  pretty  badly, 
and  in  a  speech  replying  to  him  I  fastened  on  to  a  sentence 
of  his  in  which  he  said  that  Tariff  Reform  would  give  the 


212       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

'  hope  of  the  promise  of  employment.'  Of  course  we 
rang  the  changes  on  the  dear  food  and  the  cheap  '  hope.' 
The  phrase  caught  on,  and  wherever  I  went  the  people 
shouted  '  hope,  hope.'  I  came  to  be  known  as  '  Hope.' 
Literally,  I  believe,  we  killed  Balfour  with  that  phrase. 
Asquith  was  in  excellent  form,  and  after  the  meeting  a 
few  of  us  sat  chatting  for  an  hour  or  two.  Asquith  was 
most  genial.  He  unbent  over  coffee  and  cigars,  and 
discussed  the  Cabinet,  especially  laughing  good- 
humouredly  about  John  Burns,  who,  he  assured  us,  would 
rush  out  of  a  Cabinet  Council  to  follow  a  fire- engine, 
would  stop  a  runaway  horse  en  route,  and  always 
continue  to  be  snapshoted  by  a  photographer  in 
ambush.  Well,  the  fight  went  on,  and  the  eventful 
Saturday  came.  The  amazing  thing  to  me  is  how 
cocksure  the  other  side  were.  On  the  eve  of  the  poll 
they  had  a  big  meeting,  and  they  congratulated  one 
another  as  if  they  had  actually  won.  They  smothered 
the  town  in  blue  on  polling  day,  and  their  motors  were 
as  the  sand  by  the  sea-shore  innumerable.  But  elections 
are  won  by  voters,  not  by  motors,  and  when  the  votes 
were  counted  we  were  in.  My  majority  was  under  300, 
but  Sir  Daniel's  over  400.  The  wildest  scenes  of  enthu- 
siasm followed  the  declaration  of  the  poll.  All  Ipswich 
seemed  to  go  delirious.  There  was  not  a  Tory  to  be  seen 
anywhere.  They  carried  me  about  the  town,  and  it 
was  nearly  three  in  the  morning  before  the  demonstra- 
tion ceased." 

To  his  Mother 

"January  16,  1910. 

"  It  is  Sunday  evening,  and  I  am  lying  in  bed  resting, 
luxuriously.  It  was  a  tremendous  fight  yesterday,  and 
I  can  never  put  down  on  paper  the  final  scenes.  On  the 
eve  of  the  poll  the  Tories  had  a  meeting  to  celebrate  their 
inevitable  victory.  They  talked  in  the  most  amazing 
way  of  winning  the  greatest  triumph  East  Anglia  had 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       213 

ever  known.  They  issued  the  vilest  print  ever  published, 
consisting  of  one  horrible  travesty  of  all  I  had  ever  been 
or  done.  A  compositor  sent  me  an  advance  copy,  with 
a  letter  saying  he  thought  it  the  deepest  depths  of 
blackguardism.  Then  they  unloosed  the  public-house 
influence  against  us.  It  was  all  part  of  the  concerted 
attack.  The  word  had  gone  forth  that  I  was  at  all  costs 
to  be  beaten.  Well,  we  had  our  chance.  It  lay  in  the 
constancy  and  enthusiasm  of  the  working-men,  and  they 
rose  to  the  occasion.  Threatened  by  their  employers, 
tempted  by  the  trade,  they  remembered  the  issue  at 
stake,  and  they  saved  Ipswich. 

"  When  the  result  was  declared,  the  scene  baffled  all 
description.  The  crowd  made  one  great  rush  for  me,  and 
swept  me  up  on  their  shoulders  and  heads  across  the 
square  and  down  the  road  to  the  Liberal  headquarters. 
I  was  conscious  only  of  trying  to  shake  thousands  of 
hands  and  that  great  grimy  fellows  were  laughing  and 
crying  all  around  me.  Some  of  these  working  chaps  tried 
to  kiss  me  !  I  heard  someone  shout,  '  Don't  make  fools 
of  yourselves,  chaps.'  It  is  amazing  that  I  did  not  go 
back  to  the  hotel  in  sections.  To  speak  seemed  im- 
possible. Everybody  was  delirious  with  joy.  From 
the  Liberal  headquarters  to  the  Hotel  was  one  seething 
host  of  triumphant  men,  who  had  many  of  them  risked 
everything  to  save  liberty.  From  the  balcony  of  our 
hotel  we  looked  down  on  thousands  and  thousands  of 
waving,  cheering  people.  How  they  rent  the  night  air 
with  shouts  !  How  long  it  went  on  I  don't  know,  but 
somewhere  about  1.30  we  did  get  away  and  to  bed. 

"  This  morning  I  came  to  London,  and  this  afternoon 
had  the  most  extraordinary  ovation  I  have  ever  seen  at 
Whitefields.  The  men  were  overwhelming.  They  all 
stood  up  and  waved  handkerchiefs,  I  should  say  for 
fully  five  minutes. 

"  L.  has  come  in,  and  also  my  Father-in-law,  who 
seems  highly  delighted." 


214       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

To  his  Mother 

"  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS, 

"  February  17,  1910. 

"  I  felt  I  must  write  a  line  to  you  from  this  historic 
house,  just  to  assure  you  that  I  actually  am  here.  A 
few  minutes  ago  I  made  an  Affirmation  of  everlasting 
loyalty  to  the  King  and  the  Constitution.  I  sincerely 
hope  that  means  loyalty  to  the  People  and  especially  to 
the  poor.  There  is  no  other  reason  why  I  should  be 
here  that  I  can  see. 

"It  is  an  immense  place,  and  I  am  very  far  from 
knowing  my  way  about  yet.  This  Library  is  a  magnifi- 
cent suite  of  rooms.  Most  of  the  policemen  seemed  to 
know  me,  and  they  are  most  friendly  and  solicitous  for 
my  welfare.  I  have  had  a  very  cordial  welcome  from 
heaps  of  Liberals,  and  by  and  by  shall  begin  to  feel  at 
home.  At  present  I  am  rather  weak  and  shaky  as  the 
result  of  the  '  flue,'  and  am  taking  as  much  rest  and  quiet 
as  I  can  get.  But  this  wretched  influenza  knocks  the 
very  life  out  of  one.  ..." 

To  his  Mother 

"  LONDON, 

"  March  12,  1910. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  was  not  a  very  good  maiden 
speech,  but  perhaps  nobody's  maiden  effort  is  very  good. 
The  House  was  kind,  even  cordial,  and  the  Press  quite 
too  complimentary.  The  worst  is  that  we  talk  and  talk, 
and  the  poor  Congo  wretches  die  and  die.  All  the  while 
I  was  thinking  of  them  and  how  small  a  thing  it  is  to 
make  a  good  speech  when  what  is  needed  is  to  do  some- 
thing. 

"  However,  public  attention  is  directed  to  the  matter, 
and  we  can  only  pray  that  those  in  whose  hands  the 
matter  rests  may  be  inspired  to  make  another  effort.  I 
will  send  you  the  Ipswich  paper,  which  has  a  fairly  long 
report.  The  actual  speech  took  about  twenty  minutes. 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       215 

I  did  not  exactly  feel  nervous  ;  but  it  is  a  weird  sort  of 
feeling,  unlike  any  other.  I  am  not  at  all  sorry  to  have 
had  the  taste  of  it  for  once  !  .  ." 


To  his  Mother 

"  LONDON, 

"  April  15,  1910. 

"  It  was  very  jolly  to  receive  so  many  letters  to-day, 
even  though  they  do  come  as  a  reminder  that  five  and 
forty  years  have  stolen  away.  The  eve  of  this  birthday 
I  am  never  likely  to  forget,  for  nobody  who  passed 
through  last  night  will  be  able  to  dismiss  the  scene  from 
his  memory.  Indeed,  I  felt  it  was  well  worth  while  to 
have  passed  through  all  the  fag  and  trouble  of  the  election 
to  have  been  present  in  this  House  when  that  historic 
occasion  was  witnessed.  Nobody  could  possibly  describe 
the  intensity  of  passion,  excitement,  and  enthusiasm 
crowded  into  a  few  pregnant  hours.  Asquith  acquitted 
himself  really  well  for  almost  the  first  time  in  this 
Parliament ;  and  he  shone  by  contrast  with  Balfour, 
whose  early  tactics  seemed  to  me  to  be  thoroughly 
unworthy.  The  jubilation  of  Liberals  who  have  seats 
to  win  or  seats  to  lose  over  the  frank  disclosure  of  policy 
is  overwhelming.  Last  night  we  were  like  men  from 
whose  hearts  a  great  load  has  been  lifted,  and  who  were 
in  a  very  reaction  of  delight  and  confidence.  We  felt 
now  that  we  were  free  to  fight  our  battle  with  hands 
absolutely  unmanacled,  and  that  means  victory  I  think. 
We  shall  also  get  the  Budget,  and  that  will  help  us  in 
the  country,  for  we  shall  have  done  something  in  this 
Parliament." 

To  his  Mother 

"  IFSWIOH, 

"  November  30,  1910. 

"...  I  am  drawing  all  the  lightning,  as  most  un- 
fortunately Sir  Daniel  is  laid  up  seriously,  and  will 
probably  not  be  able  to  be  at  another  meeting.  I  like 


216       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

being  handicapped  and  having  to  fight  against  odds. 
Last  night  the  most  wonderful  thing  of  all  happened,  and 
it  struck  this  funny  old  town  dumb.  The  Tories  have 
made  personal  attacks  on  me,  of  course,  and  the  work- 
men devised  a  great  stroke.  When  I  left  the  schools, 
where  we  had  had  glorious  meetings,  they  met  me  with 
a  carriage  all  decorated — oh,  very  dandy  ! — and  dragged 
Katharine  and  myself  all  round  the  town  amidst  scenes 
of  enthusiasm  which  they  say  are  unparalleled.  The 
whole  street  opposite  our  hotel  was  then  densely  crowded 
with  a  wildly  excited  throng,  waving  flags,  and  shouting 
and  cheering  tremendously.  The  whole  town  seemed 
beside  itself. 

"  Of  course  we  do  not  build  on  these  demonstrations. 
We  are  fighting  hard,  and  the  issue  is  with  the  Higher 
Authority.  If  He  wants  me  in  Parliament  He  will  elect 
me  on  Saturday,  and  if  not,  it  is  Amen  and  Amen. 
Anyhow  it  is  a  good  fight  to  be  in,  and  I  am  glad  and 
cheerful  and  quite  offensively  gay." 

To  his  Mother 

"  HOUSE  or  COMMONS, 
"  February  23,  1911. 

"...  We  had  a  most  wonderful  time  last  night  when 
the  Parliament  Bill  was  read  a  first  time.  It  might  have 
been  a  Whitefields  Men's  Meeting,  so  splendid  and 
vociferous  was  the  enthusiasm.  Old,  staid,  respectable 
people  stood  up  and  waved  handkerchiefs,  and  Mr. 
Asquith  had  quite  an  overwhelming  ovation  when  he 
walked  up  the  House  with  his  Bill. 

"  You  would  have  been  interested  in  the  opening  of  the 
Manchester  Church  House  on  Tuesday.  It  is  a  very 
fine  pile  of  buildings,  admirably  adapted  for  its  purpose, 
and  likely  to  be  invaluable  as  a  social  centre  for  all  our 
churches  and  ministers  in  Lancashire.  It  was  delightful 
to  see  the  commemorative  tablet  to  Mrs.  Rylands  and 
hear  the  many  tributes  to  her.  ..." 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       217 

To  his  Mother 

"  LONDON, 

"April  24,  1911. 

"  .  .  .  You  have  no  idea  how  delightful  and  successful 
our  Paris  trip  was.  The  men  behaved  like  the  perfect 
gentleman  they  are,  and  formed  the  happiest  party 
imaginable.  Then  the  weather  was  perfect  —  real 
weather,  gay  and  blue.  We  saw  Paris,  Versailles,  and 
Rouen,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Seine  Valley,  to  perfec- 
tion. Though  I  have  been  to  Paris  several  times,  I 
never  saw  the  City  look  so  splendid  and  sumptuous. 
Of  course  it  was  crowded  with  visitors,  and  the  Easter 
functions  at  the  churches  were  as  elaborate  as  ever. 
You  will  see  from  the  Christian  World  some  account  of 
our  meetings.  The  one  in  the  Oratoire  in  Paris  was  an 
astonishment  to  the  Paris  people.  The  great  church 
was  crowded  to  suffocation,  and  the  enthusiasm  was 
contagious.  Of  course,  speaking  through  an  interpreter 
is  a  little  trying,  but  I  had  the  impression  that  the 
great  majority  of  people  understood  what  I  said  in 
English.  The  Rouen  people  were  quite  wonderful  in 
their  hospitality  and  simple  kindness,  and  they  would 
have  done  anything  for  us.  My  own  impression  is  that 
there  is  a  bigger  and  better  day  dawning  for  French 
Protestantism  if  only  the  leaders  are  brave  and  enter- 
prising. Everything  depends  on  that.  We  had  a 
glorious  Men's  Meeting  here  yesterday.  ..." 

The  following  extracts  from  his  book  Pulpit,  Platform, 
and  Parliament  (now  out  of  print)  give  Home's  views 
as  to  his  entering  the  House  of  Commons : — 

"  I  know  quite  well  that  theoretical  objection  is  raised 
against  ministers  of  religion  entering  the  House  of 
Commons  ;  but  certainly  there  is  no  place  where,  so  far 
as  the  subjects  discussed  are  concerned,  they  are  more 
likely  to  feel  at  home.  And  surely,  if  these  subjects 


218       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

are  definitely  religious  and  involve  for  their  settlement 
religious  considerations,  are  there  not  others  which  may 
be  pronounced  so,  unless  religion  and  humanity  have  no 
connection  with  one  another  ?  What  of  the  Bill  regu- 
lating the  administration  of  coal-mines  for  the  superior 
safety  and  welfare  of  the  miner  ?  What  of  the  Bill 
constituting  a  tribunal  to  which  he  can  appeal  for  a  fair 
living  wage  ?  I  would  add,  also,  what  of  the  Bill  giving 
to  the  Trade  Unionist  the  right  to  protect  his  interests 
and  the  interests  of  his  fellows  in  Parliament  ?  Above 
all,  what  of  the  Bill  which  passed  in  review  every  class 
of  worker  in  the  kingdom,  and  took  counsel  for  their 
insurance  against  ill-health  and  unemployment  ?  The 
fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  there  is  no  Church  meeting 
held  in  this  country  that  is  more  constantly  and  prac- 
tically concerned  with  living  religious  problems  than 
the  House  of  Commons." 

"  If  anyone  ever  doubts  the  truth  of  the  famous 
saying  that  every  political  question  is  at  its  roots  a  re- 
ligious question,  let  him  come  to  the  House  of  Commons. 
No  doubt  if  we  in  England  were  not  so  persistently  and 
incurably  religious  we  should  be  a  much  easier  people 
to  govern.  That  is  why  the  statesman  is  often  so  im- 
patient of  those  fundamental  beliefs  which  can  neither 
be  extinguished  nor  ignored.  What  impressed  me  most 
of  all,  as  a  new  member,  was  the  amount  of  time  which 
the  House  of  Commons  devotes  to  arguing  religious 
questions.  Now  the  historic  attitude  of  England  has 
to  be  asserted  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  in  the  Congo 
or  on  the  Putumayo.  Now  we  have  to  reargue  the 
whole  problem  of  education,  into  which  this  element 
of  religion  enters  so  deeply.  Now  we  are  invited  to 
discuss  ecclesiastical  disorders,  and  to  suggest  a  remedy. 
Now  we  are  plunged  into  the  pros  and  cons  of  the  Ne 
Temere  decree,  and  the  relations  of  Church  and  State 
in  respect  of  marriage.  Now  the  Census  Bill  affords  a 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       219 

plausible  pretext  for  raising  the  question  of  enumerating 
Church  adherents.  Now  passions  are  aroused  over  pro- 
posals to  modify  the  King's  Accession  Oath  ;  now  the 
Regency  Bill  revives  ancient  controversies  over  Church 
Establishments.  Later  on  comes  the  great  Home  Rule 
issue,  renewing  in  its  crudest  form  the  old  '  No  Popery ' 
agitation.  Welsh  Disestablishment  is  accepted  as  the 
opportunity  for  stating  the  positive  argument  for  a 
Free  Church  in  a  Free  State.  The  Scotch  Temperance 
Bill  comes  to  us  demanded  by  religious  men  on  religious 
grounds.  The  Bill  for  suppressing  the  White  Slave 
Traffic  is  backed  by  the  whole  force  of  the  Churches, 
and  nobody  can  expect  them  to  be  silent  on  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Poor  Law." 

"  There  has  always  been  a  sort  of  unwritten  law  against 
ministers  of  religion  being  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  ever  since  the  Cromwellian  Parliaments  of 
1653  and  1654.  It  is  not  easy  to  see  why.  There  are 
literally  dozens  of  them  in  the  House  of  Lords  ;  and  it 
must  obviously  be  better  that  if  they  have  a  voice  in 
Parliament  they  should  owe  it  not  to  privilege,  but  to  the 
desire  of  the  people  freely  expressed.  More  than  one 
ex-minister  of  religion  has  attained  a  position  of  influence 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  such  as  Mr.  Henry  Richard 
and  Mr.  Allanson  Picton.  But  since  the  days  of  Praise- 
God  Barebones  I  question  whether  any  minister  in 
charge  of  a  Church  has  been  returned  as  a  Member  of 
Parliament  until  my  own  election  in  January  1910.  Yet 
for  the  life  of  me  I  cannot  see  that  there  is  any  difference 
in  principle  between  sitting  on  a  parish  council  or  an 
education  authority  or  a  board  of  guardians  and  sitting 
in  the  Legislature  that  deals  with  national  affairs  on  a 
more  majestic  scale.  All  the  reforms  which  experience 
had  taught  me  were  most  urgently  needed,  if  Christian 
righteousness  was  to  be  more  than  a  pulpit  phrase  and 
was  to  become  an  established  fact,  were  jeopardized  by 


220       WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT 

the  predominance  of  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  national 
counsels.  It  seemed  to  me  then,  and  it  seems  to  me 
now,  to  be  at  least  as  much  a  part  of  my  business,  as  a 
democrat  and  a  social  reformer,  to  seek  to  perfect  the 
machinery  through  which  the  national  conscience  can 
express  itself  as  to  endeavour  to  educate  and  stimulate 
that  conscience. 

"  When  the  unexpected  invitation  from  Ipswich  came 
to  me,  I  could  see  no  reason  for  refusing  except  the  ob- 
vious one  that  I  had  as  much  work  on  hand  as  one  man 
could  reasonably  undertake.  As  to  criticism,  you  have 
to  learn  sooner  or  later  that  if  you  escape  criticism  it  is 
only  because  you  are  not  doing  enough  to  deserve  it. 
My  Church  and  congregation,  by  this  time,  thoroughly 
understood  the  ideal  which  we  were  striving  to  realize. 
It  was  an  extraordinary  step  for  a  minister  to  take ; 
but  then,  as  I  said  in  my  opening  speech  in  Ipswich, 
it  was  an  extraordinary  crisis.  Not  for  hundreds  of 
years  had  so  grave  a  constitutional  issue  been  raised  ; 
and  to  my  thinking  all  social  progress  was  bound  up  in 
the  decision.  No  Government  deserves  to  be  in  power 
in  modern  England  that  will  not  seek  to  effect  by  legis- 
lation the  more  equitable  distribution  of  wealth.  The 
Budget  was  a  courageous  attempt  to  accomplish  some- 
thing in  this  direction,  and  I  for  one  felt  that  it  had  the 
sanction  of  the  principles  I  am  proud  to  preach." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Home's  political 
preoccupations  in  any  way  .diminished  his  interest 
in  the  great  work  at  Whitefields.  His  superintendency 
of  the  mission  was  always  his  first  charge.  But  the 
very  problems  it  raised  and  the  interests  inseparable 
from  it  drove  him  into  wider  activities.  The  social 
environment  of  the  place  and  the  work  connected  with 
the  Brotherhood  suggested,  in  an  imperative  form,  the 
need  for  a  closer  application  of  Christian  principles 
to  public  affairs.  Home's  own  consciousness  of  his 


WHITEFIELDS    AND    PARLIAMENT       221 

mission,  supported  by  the  urgency  of  many  of  his  friends, 
notably  of  Dr.  Jowett,  drove  him  to  become  a  protag- 
onist in  the  cause.  But  all  the  time  his  life  was  centred 
in  Whitefields,  and  from  it  he  drew  his  inspiration. 
With  him  the  religious  side  of  the  work  always  came 
first.  He  believed  profoundly  in  the  adaptability  of 
his  Gospel  to  the  people  who  crowded  his  Sunday  evening 
services,  and  he  gave  them  of  his  best.  They  were 
evangelistic  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word,  and  the  story 
of  the  good  they  accomplished  will  never  be  fully  told. 
Home  was  a  true  shepherd  of  souls,  and  the  great  mission 
which  he  conducted  in  the  Oxford  Music  Hall,  along  with 
Dr.  Campbell  Morgan,  with  its  careful  house-to-house 
visitation  and  its  bold  and  sane  presentation  of  the 
Christian  message,  was  a  model  of  what  such  efforts 
should  be.  He  had  no  belief  in  the  common  complaint 
that  the  working  classes  were  unwilling  to  listen  to  the 
Gospel.  But  he  was  convinced  that  it  needed  to  be 
presented  to  them  in  the  right  way,  and  that  a  thoroughly 
democratic  atmosphere  of  sympathy  and  brotherhood 
was  the  first  condition  of  success.  This  atmosphere 
he  succeeded  in  producing  at  Whitefields,  which  became 
a  spiritual  home  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 
He  gathered  round  him  a  band  of  eager  workers,  and  was 
well  backed  up  by  able  and  devoted  assistants  like  Mr. 
Holmes  and  Mr.  Chisholm ;  but  the  central  inspiration 
and  driving  force  were  his  alone.  Whitefields  was  a 
really  great  achievement,  and  remains  to  this  day  the 
best  monument  of  Home's  wisdom,  energy,  and  faith. 


CHAPTER  VII 

WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS 

(Contributed  by  L.  T.  HORNE,  C.B.E.) 

IN  the  House  of  Commons,  Home,  while  supporting  the 
Liberal  Government  in  the  great  measures  of  political 
reform  which  occupied  Parliament  during  the  years  from 
1910  to  1914,  devoted  himself  chiefly  to  those  subjects 
— such  as  religious  education  and  Welsh  Disestab- 
lishment— on  which  he  could  speak  with  some  authority 
as  a  representative  Free  Churchman,  or  which  made  a 
direct  humanitarian  appeal — such  as  the  treatment  of 
the  natives  of  the  Congo,  Angola,  and  New  Hebrides, 
the  proposed  arbitration  treaties  with  the  United  States 
of  America,  the  possibility  of  mediation  in  the  war 
between  Italy  and  Turkey,  and  the  improvement  of  the 
condition  of  children  under  the  Poor  Law. 

His  more  important  speeches  were  on  the  Congo  (two), 
the  Prevention  of  Destitution  Bill  (founded  on  the 
Minority  Report  of  the  Poor  Law  Commission  1905-9), 
the  Accession  Declaration  Bill  (intended  to  relieve  a  new 
sovereign  on  accession  from  having  to  make  in  public 
a  declaration  against  some  of  the  distinctive  doctrines 
of  Roman  Catholicism),  the  appointment  of  justices 
of  the  peace,  the  Education  Acts  (Single  School  Areas) 
Amendment  Bill,  the  Welsh  Disestablishment  Bill,  and 
the  Government  of  Ireland  Bill. 

His  maiden  speech  was  on  the  Foreign  Office  Vote,  and 
was  occupied  in  urging  Sir  Edward  Grey  to  use  to  the 
full  the  influence  of  Great  Britain  in  support  of  the 
reforms  in  the  government  of  the  Congo  Province,  which 

222 


WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS     223 

the  Belgian  people,  under  the  leadership  of  their  new 
King  Albert,  were  beginning  to  effect.  The  speech 
ended  on  a  note  reminiscent  of  the  action  of  Cromwell 
and  Milton  on  behalf  of  the  oppressed  Protestants  of 
Piedmont.  He  said  : — 

"  I  do  not  suppose  I  am  a  very  great  authority  on  the 
value  of  the  mailed  fist  in  politics.  Whenever  I  discuss 
the  question  of  the  Army  and  the  Navy  with  my  friends, 
they  always  tell  me  the  great  advantage  a  large  Army 
and  Navy  give  is  that  they  increase  our  weight  in  the 
councils  of  Europe.  We  are  shortly  to  be  asked  in  this 
House  to  vote  a  very  great  increase  in  the  British  Navy. 
I  should  like  to  know  how  many  extra  Dreadnoughts 
we  shall  have  to  build  in  order  to  secure  the  recognition 
of  our  Treaty  rights,  and  to  see  that  our  word  is  respected 
in  the  councils  of  Europe. 

"  Personally,  I  do  not  believe  it  is  additional  material 
weight  we  need  ;  I  believe  it  is  additional  moral  weight 
we  need.  I  believe  that  the  great  loss  is  the  loss  of  the 
old  English  spirit,  something  of  that  fidelity  and  loyalty 
to  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  weak  and  the  oppressed 
which  once  made  the  British  nation  not  only  respected 
but  feared  throughout  the  world.  And  we  want  to  say, 
if  we  may,  to  the  members  of  His  Majesty's  Government 
and  to  the  Foreign  Secretary,  that  we  regard  this  matter 
as  a  matter  which  is  going  to  test  the  reality  of  the 
English  character  and  English  spirit ;  and  we  beseech 
them  to  understand  our  sense  of  how  deeply  British 
credit  and  British  honour  are  involved  in  this  matter 
of  the  Congo." 

The  proposal  to  modify  the  King's  declaration  at  his 
coronation  met  with  hearty  support  from  Home  : — 

"  We  sympathize,"  he  said,  "  with  those  whose  desire 
it  has  been  all  through  that  the  Roman  Catholic  subjects 


224     WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

of  His  Majesty  should  be  relieved  from  a  slur  and  stigma 
upon  their  religion.  Personally,  my  objection  to  the 
old  form  of  Declaration  is  just  as  strong  as  the  objection 
which  any  Roman  Catholic  can  feel  to  it.  I  think  we 
insult  ourselves  when  we  insist  that  our  King  should  use 
such  words  as  '  idolatrous  '  and  '  superstitious  '  in  regard 
to  what  are  the  sacred  convictions  of  those  who  belong, 
it  is  true,  to  another  part  of  the  Church,  but  which  is 
none  the  less  the  same  Church  to  which  we  belong  our- 
selves. 

"  I  do  not  regard  Roman  Catholics  as  idolaters.  I 
regard  them  as  fellow- Christians,  and  I  am  a  great  deal 
more  sanguine  of  their  ultimate  destinies  than  they  are 
of  mine." 

How,  he  asked,  could  Roman  Catholics  be  expected 
to  co-operate  in  united  Christian  movements,  such  as 
that  in  support  of  better  international  relations,  if 
Protestants  insisted  on  the  King  publicly  insulting  the 
Roman  faith  ? 

But  yet  Home  would  not  drop  the  King's  declaration 
of  faith  altogether.  No  doubt  the  Protestant  succession 
of  the  British  sovereigns  was  secured  by  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment and  not  by  any  such  declaration.  From  a  legal 
point  of  view  there  was  no  more  case  for  the  coronation 
than  for  the  declaration.  But,  he  held,  "it  is  abso- 
lutely right,  proper,  and  advisable  that  the  Sovereign, 
on  this  occasion  of  his  coronation,  should  make  on 
behalf  of  the  Empire,  and  in  the  face  of  the  world,  a 
distinct  and  deliberate  proclamation  of  the  position  he 
holds." 

The  substitute  form  of  declaration  as  originally  drafted 
had  run,  "  I  am  a  faithful  member  of  the  Church  by  law 
established  in  England."  To  this  Home  objected,  "  be- 
cause we  do  not  think  the  Coronation  of  the  King  is  a 
suitable  or  opportune  time  for  him  to  insist  publicly 
on  the  fact  that  he  is  in  any  sense  the  ecclesiastical 


WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS    225 

monopoly  of  a  single  denomination."  The  form  origin- 
ally proposed  separated  by  implication  the  King  from 
the  vast  majority  of  his  Protestant  subjects  throughout 
his  dominions. 

Owing  largely  to  the  criticisms  of  Free  Churchmen, 
the  form  was  altered  to  "  I  am  a  faithful  Protestant  "  ; 
and  while  approving  the  change,  Home  hoped  there 
would  be  no  attempt  to  say  that  the  amendment  was 
the  triumph  of  one  particular  branch  of  the  Protestant 
Church  over  another.  In  all  such  matters  his  policy  was 
immediate  co-operation  and  ultimate  unity  among 
Christians  of  all  creeds  and  varieties. 

In  urging  that  benches  of  magistrates  should  be 
"  more  representative  of  the  interests  over  which  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Commission  of  Peace  extends,"  he 
spoke  from  intimate  knowledge  and  experience  of  the 
disadvantages  under  which  Liberals  and  Nonconformists 
labour  in  country  districts,  where  no  one  of  their  way 
of  thinking  is  a  magistrate.  But  he  showed  that  the 
question  was  not  merely  a  party  or  sectarian  one. 

"  I  am,"  he  said,  "  one  of  those  who  believe  that  there 
is  no  question  more  vital  to  the  social  well-being  of 
England  than  this  one.  A  very  eminent  man  once  said 
that  the  greatest  asset  of  England  was  its  belief  in  justice. 
We  shall  have  another  asset  one  of  these  days  for 
England,  and  that  is  the  belief  in  the  certainty  of  getting 
justice.  It  is  all  very  well  to  believe  in  justice  as  an 
abstract  proposition,  but  the  people  in  the  rural  districts 
want  to  believe  that  they  can  get  some  kind  of  real 
justice,  and  that  they  can  get  it  with  some  degree  of  cer- 
tainty. The  most  necessary  thing  for  our  country  at 
the  present  time  is  that  the  people  shall  really  come  to 
believe  that  in  the  administration  of  justice  particular 
prejudices  will  not  merely  be  accepted  for  principle 
and  that  property  will  not  be  above  human  life," 

For  a  solution  of  the  controversy  about  the  religious 
15 


226    WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

teaching  in  the  public  elementary  schools  of  the  country, 
Home  laboured  incessantly,  both  by  public  speech  and 
by  private  negotiation  in  Parliament  and  outside. 

In  March  1912  he  spoke  in  support  of  a  Bill  intro- 
duced by  Sir  G.  Croydon  Marks  for  dealing  with  the 
special  difficulty  of  single- school  areas.  In  nearly  every 
case  the  religious  teaching  in  such  schools  is  superin- 
tended, if  not  given,  by  the  Anglican  clergyman,  and 
Nonconformist  parents  of  children  compelled  to  attend 
such  schools  have  an  admitted  grievance. 

The  Bill  proposed  that  in  schools  serving  areas  where 
there  was  no  other  public  elementary  school,  the  religious 
teaching  should  be  on  the  simple  basis  common  to  the 
denominations.  The  idea  of  finding  common  ground 
in  religious  teaching  was  due  to  men  like  W.  H.  Smith 
and  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury.  In  the  Second  Reading 
Debate  he  said  : — 

"  I  am  one  of  those  Nonconformists  who  have  fought 
year  after  year  for  the  maintenance,  if  possible,  of  a 
Bible  lesson  as  an  integral  part  of  the  curriculum  of  the 
public  schools  in  this  country.  I  agree  that  it  may  not 
be  possible  to  maintain  that  position,  but  I  shall  deeply 
deplore  it  if  it  is  not.  The  secularists  of  this  country 
have  never  raised  any  strong  objection  to  that.  They 
feel  that  to  exempt  their  children  from  that  which  has 
had  so  large  a  part  in  the  history  of  the  world  and  in  the 
history  of  our  own  literature,  and  which  stands  for  so 
much  in  the  life  of  the  English  people,  would  be  a  mis- 
fortune, and  they  are  willing,  as  we  are,  that  their  children 
should  know  the  contents  of  the  Scriptures  of  our  faith. 
As  long  as  it  is  possible  to  maintain  that,  I  hope  the 
House  and  the  country  will  maintain  it.  But  if  the 
price  we  have  got  to  pay  for  that  is  that  in  those  districts 
where,  after  all,  we  are  probably  in  a  small  minority, 
and  have  most  to  stand  against,  there  is  to  be  this  unjust 
and  unfair  discrimination  as  regards  our  children,  then 


WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS     227 

I  believe  the  great  body  of  the  Free  Churchmen  of  this 
country  will  pass  over  to  the  purely  secular  side  of  this 
question,  and  will  agree  that  the  only  possible  solution 
is  to  exclude  the  Bible  altogether  from  the  schools." 

The  proposal  to  disestablish  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Wales  gave  Home  the  opportunity  of  pleading  before 
the  House  of  Commons  for  some  of  his  dearest  ideals 
and  convictions.  A  free  church  in  a  free  land,  a  volun- 
tary union  of  all  the  Christian  bodies  in  the  promotion 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  was  his  aspiration  and  aim ;  and 
he  was  convinced  that  a  necessary  preliminary  was  to 
set  the  Episcopal  Church  free  from  State  control. 

In  May  1912,  on  the  second  reading  of  the  Welsh 
Disestablishment  Bill,  he  made  a  comparatively  long 
speech.  After  vindicating  the  motives  of  the  Libera- 
tionists  from  the  accusation  of  malice  and  cupidity 
by  referring  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  other  former 
advocates  of  the  cause,  he  said  : — 

"  There  are  two  propositions  contained  in  this  Bill, 
which  I  take  everybody  opposite  will  agree  are  at  any 
rate  arguable  and  tenable  propositions.  The  first  is  that 
so  far  as  the  people  of  Wales  are  concerned,  they  have 
the  right  as  a  people  to  clothe  themselves  in  those 
religious  forms  and  in  those  forms  of  faith  and  of  worship 
which  they  believe  to  be  appropriate  to  their  own  life, 
and  that  they  do  not  believe  that  it  is  in  the  power  of 
any  outside  authority  to  impose  upon  them  as  a  people 
forms  of  worship  and  forms  of  faith  with  which  they  are 
out  of  sympathy.  In  the  second  place — and  this  is  per- 
haps a  more  disputable  proposition,  but  one  which  has 
had  very  sound  experience  behind  it — we  believe  that 
tithe  is,  as  has  been  maintained,  essentially  a  tax ; 
that  it  is  imposed  by  the  State  ;  that  it  is  recoverable 
at  law ;  and  that  in  connection  with  a  resettlement,  it 
is  within  the  power  of  the  State  to  consider  whether  a 


228    WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

tax  which  it  levies  may  not  be,  in  its  application,  de- 
voted to  other  uses  that  might  be  more  to  the  general 
interests  of  the  community.  Those  are  the  two  propo- 
sitions contained  in  this  Bill.  I  venture  to  suggest 
that  they  are  perfectly  honest  and  straightforward 
propositions,  and,  at  any  rate,  we  may  advocate  them 
without  being  accused  of  such  motives  as  have  been 
stated  from  the  other  side." 

To  condemn  the  religion  and  morals  of  a  country 
which  has  no  established  Church  was,  he  pointed  out,  a 
reflexion  on  the  Dominions  of  Canada  and  Australia, 
where  that  condition  held  good. 

"  What  is  one  of  the  consequences  of  this  situation  ? 
It  is  that  out  there  they  are  all  favourable  and  con- 
fidently talking  about  Christian  union.  There,  under 
their  freer  conditions,  all  classes  of  the  Christian  Churches 
are  coming  together  to  plan  their  strategy  and  to  con- 
sider how  they  can  best  co-operate  one  with  another. 
Christian  union,  everybody  will  tell  you,  is  distinctly  in 
the  air." 

The  argument  from  the  experience  of  other  countries 
was  a  favourite  one  with  him,  and  was  further  developed. 

"  Let  me  ask  hon.  Members  to  consider,  not  the  case 
of  Wales,  which  has  been  so  well  argued  from  that  point 
of  view,  but  an  illustration  which  has  not  been  advanced 
in  this  debate,  but  which,  to  my  mind,  is  exceedingly 
striking,  and  which,  as  it  happens,  I  can  use  in  this 
House  without  offending  the  feelings  of  some  hon. 
Members  opposite,  who  would  say,  '  Oh,  yes,  you  are 
talking  to  us  about  what  would  be  good  for  our  Church 
just  at  the  time  when  you  are  proposing  to  disestablish 
it.'  Take  the  States  of  America.  In  America,  as  the 
House  knows,  for  many  generations  there  were  two 


WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS     229 

established  Churches.  The  Church  to  which  I  belong, 
the  Congregational  Church,  was  the  established  Church 
of  New  England.  The  Episcopal  Church  was  the 
established  Church  of  the  Southern  States.  It  was  Dr. 
Pusey  who  said  that  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America 
first  struck  root  when  it  was  deprived  of  all  State  aid. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  did  the  Episcopal  Church  begin 
to  exercise  and  to  wield  the  influence  which  to-day  it 
undoubtedly  does  wield  in  the  American  States. 

"  Now  let  me  put  this  fact,  which  is  much  more 
striking.  If  hon.  Members  have  ever  seen  the  list  of 
the  great  Christian  communions  that  hold  the  people  of 
the  United  States  within  their  borders,  they  will  have 
noticed  that  at  the  bottom  of  the  list  numerically  stand 
the  two  Churches  that  were  once  established.  The 
Congregational  and  the  Episcopal  Churches  are  at  the 
bottom  of  the  list,  and  the  Free  Christian  Communities, 
that  came  in  with  no  State  power  behind  them  and 
simply  flung  themselves  upon  the  affections  and  vol- 
untary suffrages  of  the  people,  outnumber  the  Epis- 
copalians and  Congregationalists,  sometimes  two,  three, 
or  four  to  one.  In  the  face  of  a  fact  like  that,  which  is 
to  me  extremely  striking,  I  wonder  if  hon.  Members 
opposite  really  believe  that  the  mere  fact  of  Establish- 
ment helps  a  Church  so  far  as  the  people  of  the  country 
are  concerned.  I  should  like  to  make  one  quotation  on 
this  question  from  an  interview  in  November  1892  by 
the  special  commissioner  of  the  Western  Mail  with  the 
Right  Reverend  Lord  Plunket,  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 
I  do  not  give  the  whole  of  the  advantages  which  he  said 
the  Irish  Church  reaped  from  Disestablishment.  I  con- 
fine myself  to  this  : — 

'  .  .  .  the  more  favourable  attitude  as  regards  our 
influence  upon  the  surrounding  population  which  we 
occupy  because  of  our  severance  from  any  State 
connection  .  .  .  the  gain  outweighs  the  loss.' 


230    WORK   IN   THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had  discovered  that  from  the 
action  of  Disestablishment  the  Church  in  Ireland  has 
gained  in  influence  over  the  surrounding  population 
exactly  as  the  Churches  are  gaining  which  have  been 
through  the  same  process  in  other  lands.  But  let  me 
complete  this  part  of  what  I  want  to  say  by  referring 
to  the  latest  instance  of  Disestablishment.  I  do  not 
know  whether  I  am  speaking  to  hon.  Members  who  have 
seen  anything  at  all  of  the  very  poor  small  Protestant 
communities  in  France.  I  have  myself  visited  some  of 
these  Protestant  communities.  We  know  their  history. 
They  were  pitifully  small  up  to  the  time  of  the  severance 
of  Church  and  State.  These  bodies,  equally  with  the 
Roman  Catholic  bodies,  received  State  grants,  and  it  was 
a  very  great  question  whether,  in  the  face  of  the  sudden 
withdrawal  of  those  sums,  these  little  Protestant  com- 
munities would  be  able  to  survive.  Last  week  London 
was  visited  by  perhaps  the  most  distinguished  member 
of  the  Protestant  community  in  France,  Dr.  D'Aubigny, 
who  gave  these  facts  about  that  case.  He  said  that  they 
had  got  through  the  crisis  not  only  without  harm,  but 
with  distinct  gain  to  the  Churches.  Their  churches 
were  in  a  better  position  than  they  had  been  for  the  last 
fifty  years.  The  loss  by  Disestablishment  to  the  Protes- 
tant Churches  had  been  £80,000  a  year.  They  thought 
at  first  it  would  be  necessary  to  abandon  a  number  of 
their  churches,  but  from  the  very  first  year  the  £80,000 
was  made  up.  They  were  now  getting  £40,000  more 
than  they  received  from  the  Government.  The  curious 
thing  was  that  immediately  they  were  disestablished 
the  salaries  of  the  ministers  rose.  Do  not  hon.  Members 
opposite  look  upon  this  question  with  a  not  sufficiently 
brave  heart  ?  They  cannot  believe  so  little  in  their 
Church  as  to  think  that  the  Anglican  Church  in  Wales 
will  not  respond  to  its  opportunity  as  nobly  as  those 
Huguenot  Churches  in  France  or  the  Churches  across 
the  water  to  which  I  have  referred. 


WORK   IN   THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS    231 

'  We  have  been  asked  more  than  once  what  it  is  that 
the  people  of  Wales  can  possibly  get  out  of  this  Bill. 
I  quite  agree  that  if  it  were  simply  a  matter  of  pounds, 
shillings,  and  pence,  the  whole  thing  would  be  paltry 
and  pitiable.  In  dealing  with  this  point,  I  am  quite 
conscious  that  I  am  treading  on  somewhat  delicate 
ground,  and  that  it  is  a  position  which  is  not  easily 
susceptible  of  treatment  in  an  Assembly  like  this.  But 
I  am  somewhat  encouraged  by  the  noble  way,  if  he  will 
permit  me  to  say  so,  in  which  the  Noble  Lord  [Lord  Hugh 
Cecil]  presented  his  case  to  an  admiring  House  this 
afternoon.  I  want  to  put  our  side  just  as  frankly  as 
he  put  his.  Everybody  knows  that  there  are  two 
supreme  interpretations  of  Christianity,  and  that  up 
to  now  it  has  not  been  possible  for  any  man  skilled  in 
Church  statesmanship,  however  wise  he  may  be,  to 
engineer  successfully  a  bridge  that  shall  cross  the  gap. 
One  is  the  sacerdotal  and  the  other  is  the  unsacerdotal 
interpretation  of  Christianity.  One  is  the  priestly  and 
the  other  is  the  unpriestly  interpretation.  Both  of  these 
have  had  very  distinguished  adherents  and  exponents. 
Both  in  their  time  have  had  the  devotion  of  large 
sections  of  the  British  people,  and  to-day  they  represent 
still,  as  centuries  ago,  two  practically  separate  camps  in 
the  Christendom  of  our  time.  This  would  matter  little, 
I  confess,  if  it  were  a  religious  organization  within  a 
people  who  cared  very  little  about  religion.  People 
who  thought  that  all  religions  were  equally  true  or 
equally  false  would  probably  take  very  little  stock  of 
whether  the  Church  were  organized  on  sacerdotal  or 
non- sacerdotal  lines.  But  the  Welsh  people  are  not 
like  that.  They  are  perhaps  in  all  the  world  the  people 
the  keenest  and  most  eager  upon  questions  of  religion. 
Wherever  you  go  in  Wales  you  find  the  people  ardent 
and  anxious  to  come  together  to  listen  to  you  on  religious 
questions.  Their  young  men  read  religious  books ; 
they  are  always  thinking  out  religious  problems.  Wales 


232     WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

has  taken  her  side,  and  the  side  she  has  deliberately 
taken  is  the  unsacerdotal  interpretation  of  Christianity. 
There  is  one  thing  that  a  nation  like  that  feels  more  than 
anything  else,  and  that  is  the  misrepresentation  of  its 
religion.  If  you  make  the  representative  Church  of  a 
people  like  that  a  Church  that  is  founded  upon  the 
sacerdotal  interpretation  of  Christianity,  you  offer  them 
a  Church  which  they  feel  utterly  misrepresents  their 
faith." 

In  committee  on  the  Disestablishment  Bill  Mr.  (now 
Lord)  Cave  asked  his  opponents,  "  Why  are  you  here  try- 
ing to  destroy  the  Church  of  England  by  impoverishing 
it  and  destroying  its  connection  with  the  State  ?  "  To 
this  Home  replied  by  pointing  to  the  members  of  the 
Church  of  England  who  believed  that  disestablishment 
would  not  weaken,  but  be  for  the  good  of  the  Church. 
As  to  Nonconformists,  their  action  was  determined  by 
the  serious  conviction  that  a  Church  ought  not  to  be 
controlled  by  the  State. 

"  Every  true  Nonconformist  is  a  High  Churchman,  in 
the  sense  that  he  resents  the  connection  of  the  State  in 
regard  to  the  creeds  he  holds,  and  the  forms  of  worship 
he  follows.  He  is  taught  in  his  schools  and  in  his  Churches 
that  a  Church  ought  to  be  free.  He  is  taught  that  the 
highest  prerogative  of  the  Church  is  that  it  should  be 
free — free  to  frame  its  own  dogmas  and  its  own  forms 
of  worship,  and  to  determine  its  own  forms  of  govern- 
ment. If  he  believes  that  that  is  the  highest  conception 
of  the  Church,  surely  the  hon.  and  learned  Member  might 
assume  in  this  House  that  there  are  those  who  advocate 
this  policy  from  motives  that  are  at  least  as  fair  and  as 
sincere  as  those  of  any  High  Churchman.  We  have  been 
asked  from  the  other  side  whether  we  resent  certain 
privileges  that  are  held  by  State  Churchmen  at  the 
present  time.  Let  me  discuss,  for  instance — perhaps 


WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS     233 

I  have  the  greatest  right  in  this  House  to  discuss  it — 
the  question  of  the  ministry.  What  would  the  hon. 
and  learned  Member  think  if  there  were  an  artificial 
line  drawn  clean  across  the  profession  which  he  repre- 
sents, drawn  by  the  State,  dividing  the  orthodox  from 
the  heterodox,  separating  the  sheep  from  the  goats  ?  I 
wonder  what  he  would  think  ?  Let  me  suppose,  for  a 
moment,  that  there  was  a  party  in  the  legal  profession 
which  stood  by  the  unchangeable  character  of  the  law 
as  it  stands,  and  that  the  State  established  and  endowed 
that  particular  profession  and  set  the  mark  of  its  sanction 
and  patronage  upon  them,  while  those  who  advocated 
some  reform  and  change  in  connection  with  the  law  were 
regarded  by  the  State  as  standing  in  a  totally  different 
position.  The  hon.  and  learned  gentleman  knows 
perfectly  well  that  it  would  introduce  a  cleavage  which 
would  run  through  his  own  profession,  which  would 
be  mischievous  and  injurious  to  his  profession,  and  which 
would  inevitably  create  a  feeling  of  friction  and  division. 
"  Just  in  the  same  way  there  is  at  present  a  ministry 
in  the  Church  which  is  sanctioned  by  the  State  under 
the  Act  of  Uniformity,  which  is  treated  as  being  worthy 
of  the  sanction  and  the  patronage  of  the  State  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  there  is  a  great  body  of  ministers  of  the 
Free  Churches  in  Wales,  men  well  educated,  men  who 
have  increasingly  been  taking  the  highest  positions  in 
their  Welsh  universities,  men  many  of  whom  have  made 
great  contributions  to  theological  literature,  men  who 
absolutely  have  the  esteem  and  regard  of  all  Churchmen 
whose  esteem  and  regard  are  worth  having ;  and  yet 
these  men,  by  these  artificial  arrangements,  are  regarded 
as  outside  the  fold  which  could  receive  any  sort  of 
recognition  by  the  State — these  men  whom  the  Welsh 
people  trust  and  love.  Disestablishment  means  to  us 
religious  equality  in  this  sense,  that  henceforth  they 
will  all  stand  on  an  absolute  equality  in  the  eye  of 
the  State,  as  they  ought  to  do." 


234    WORK   IN   THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

Home's  vision  of  a  free  united  Church  of  the  nation 
to  be  realized  in  the  future  led  him  to  propose  as  an 
amendment  to  the  Government's  scheme  that,  whereas 
the  parish  churches  in  Wales  were  to  be  handed  over  to 
the  disestablished  Episcopal  Church,  the  cathedrals 
should  be  retained  for  national  religious  purposes. 

"  The  proposal  is,"  he  said,  "  that  the  Cathedral 
Churches  should  be  vested  in  the  State,  and  that  their 
maintenance,  repair,  and  restoration  should  be  a  charge 
upon  the  funds  that  will  be  available  on  Disendowment, 
that  they  shall  be  subject  to  all  the  present  existing 
rights,  and  that  it  shall  be  possible  for  the  repre- 
sentative body  on  application  to  secure  that  they  shall 
be  used  for  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  at  present 
employed.  That,  of  course,  does  not  prevent  the  Com- 
missioners using  them,  or  permitting  them  to  be  used, 
for  other  purposes. 

"  Cathedrals  ought  to  be  treated  as  national  monu- 
ments. Very  often  really  necessary  work  in  regard  to 
these  fabrics  has  to  be  postponed  because  there  are  not 
sufficient  funds  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church  for  this 
purpose. 

"  We  think  strongly  on  this  subject,  and  I  ask  hon. 
Members  opposite  to  believe  that,  however  much  we 
are  divided  from  them  over  other  matters  in  this  Bill, 
we  are  all  with  them  in  our  admiration  of  the  great 
national  cathedrals,  and  we  are  all  desirous  of  maintain- 
ing them  in  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency.  If  it  is 
necessary  that  the  State  should  take  over  and  maintain 
such  places  as  the  beautiful  Abbey  of  Tintern,  it  is  even 
more  indispensable  that  the  State  should  see  that  the 
fabric  of  St.  David's  Cathedral  does  not  fall  into  ruin. 
Therefore,  we  submit,  especially  having  regard  to  the 
fact  that  as  many  of  us  believe  tithe  always  had  a 
reference  to  the  repair  of  the  fabric,  it  would  be  very 
proper  to  make  the  maintenance,  repair,  and  restoration 


WORK   IN    THE   HOUSE    OF   COMMONS    235 

of  the  cathedrals,  so  far  as  the  external  fabric  is  con- 
cerned, a  charge  upon  the  commuted  tithe  rent- charge. 
I  take  it  the  House  will  agree  that,  if  the  State  did  accept 
this  obligation  and  responsibility,  there  must  be  a  certain 
condition  attached.  I  know  it  is  difficult  to  argue  this 
question  without  wounding  susceptibilities  and  pre- 
judices which  are  very  strong  with  hon.  Members  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House,  and  which  all  of  us  on  this  side 
would  willingly,  if  we  could,  respect ;  but  it  is  not  pos- 
sible ;  and  may  it  not  enter  into  the  vision  of  the  Church, 
as  it  will  be  in  Wales  to-morrow,  to  make  these  cathedrals 
once  again  central  to  the  religious  life  of  the  whole  of 
the  people  of  Wales  ?  Surely  no  one  will  consider  we 
are  saying  anything  which  can  be  construed  as  offensive 
if  we  can  show  this  has  proved  to  be  a  possibility  in  the 
history  of  other  countries.  Anyone  who  has  travelled 
in  South  Germany  has  seen  buildings  just  as  noble  as 
the  Welsh  cathedrals  used  alternatively  for  Lutheran 
and  Roman  Catholic  services,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  no 
one  was  any  the  worse.  They  may  not  have  led  to  any 
religious  or  ecclesiastical  agreement,  but  the  mere  fact 
that  people  came  together  for  worship  under  the  same 
roof  did  make  for  a  measure  of  appreciation  and  agree- 
ment among  the  different  religious  communities  which 
met  in  those  buildings. 

"  I  do  not  really  think  anyone  opposite  can  say  that  in 
the  form  in  which  it  is  presented  it  is  an  attempt  to  do 
something  which  is  making  a  serious  inroad  upon  Church 
property.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  my  right  hon. 
friend  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland  [Mr.  Birrell]  was 
trying  to  explain  to  the  right  hon,  gentleman  the  Member 
for  the  City  of  London  [Mr.  Balfour]  exactly  what  a 
Nonconformist  was.  He  said  that  the  general  impression 
of  a  Nonconformist  among  hon.  Members  opposite  was 
that  he  was  a  person  constantly  trying  to  thrust  some- 
body else's  corpse  into  a  churchyard  that  did  not  belong 
to  him.  This  has  been  the  sort  of  impression  that  has 


236     WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

grown  up  among  Nonconformists  themselves.  Nothing 
has  belonged  to  us.  I  am  not  saying  who  is  responsible, 
but  by  a  series  of  conditions  and  circumstances,  well 
known  to  every  Member  of  this  Committee,  we  have 
been  outside  a  great  many  national  institutions.  We 
have  not  only  been  outside,  but  some  of  those  institutions 
that  stand  for  most,  not  only  in  the  history  of  our 
country,  but  in  the  history  of  the  world,  have  been 
institutions  in  which  we  have  had  no  part.  I  think  it 
has  had  a  very  mischievous  effect  upon  Nonconformity. 
I  think  that  lack  of  the  historic  sense  with  which  we  are 
frequently  accused  by  members  of  the  Church  of  England 
is  an  accusation  that  has  a  certain  amount  of  point,  but, 
if  so,  I  put  it  whether  their  refusal  to  share  with  us  even 
to  a  moderate  extent  like  this  what  should  be  ecclesias- 
tical property  open  to  the  uses,  I  think,  of  all  religious 
people  in  a  great  community  like  that  of  Wales,  has 
not  been  responsible  for  some  of  that  which  they  deplore 
on  our  part.  If  it  were  possible  for  us  to  enter  into  a 
certain  new  measure  of  agreement  and  take  a  new  step 
which  would  make  for  ultimate  unity,  I  do  not  believe 
they  would  deplore  it,  and  I  believe  the  general  body  of 
Nonconformists  in  Wales  would  be  grateful." 

Mr.  Asquith  expressed  his  sympathy  with  this  pro- 
posal, which  he  had  himself  formerly  advocated.  He 
had,  however,  been  convinced  that  it  was  advisable  to 
leave  the  cathedrals  to  the  Episcopal  Church  because 
three  or  four  of  them  are  used  as  parish  churches,  and 
because  two  of  them,  or  perhaps  three,  had  within  the 
lifetime  of  living  people  been  restored  or  even  entirely 
reconstructed  by  private  benefactions  for  the  use  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  In  view  of  this  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment Home's  motion  was  defeated.  Evidently  in  the 
mind  of  some  of  the  speakers  was  the  direful  apprehension 
that,  if  he  had  his  way,  the  cathedrals  would  be  changed 
into  bustling  "  Whitefields  "  ! 


WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS     237 

His  last  speech,  made  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for 
America,  was  on  the  Second  Reading,  for  the  third  time, 
of  the  Irish  Home  Rule  Bill.  It  was  in  the  main 
intended  to  meet  appeals  from  Ulster  Protestants 
to  British  Free  Churchmen  to  oppose  Home  Rule  on 
grounds  of  prejudice  against  the  Roman  Catholics. 
Such  appeals  Home  rejected  with  scorn.  To  him 
toleration  was  of  the  genius  of  Protestantism;  de- 
mocracy and  free  conference  and  co-operation  between 
men  of  different  creeds  were  the  hope  for  the  future 
of  religion. 

At  the  same  time,  he  hailed  the  suggestion  that  in  the 
federal  principle  lay  the  possibility  of  uniting  parties 
to  give  self-government  to  Ireland. 

The  following  are  extracts  from  the  speech  : — 

"  It  seems  to  be  the  fate  of  this  Bill  while  it  is  passing 
through  the  House  of  Commons  to  raise  every  problem 
that  can  be  raised  in  regard  to  the  government  of  a  free 
people.  We  have  had  the  question  raised  of  the  rights 
of  minorities.  We  have  had  the  question  raised  of  the 
best  method  of  ascertaining  the  judgment  of  the  con- 
stituencies. We  have  had  the  question  raised — the 
very  critical  question  in  any  country — of  the  limits  of 
civil  obedience.  We  have  had  the  question  raised  of 
the  limits  of  military  obedience.  And  now  it  does 
seem,  in  its  final  stages  through  the  passage  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  that  we  are  called  upon  to  con- 
sider— and  I  think  rightly  called  upon  to  consider — the 
reality  and  the  effect  of  a  federal  system  of  government 
in  this  country,  and  whether  it  may  not  be  possible  to 
secure  greater  efficiency  in  regard  to  the  administration 
of  Imperial  affairs,  while  at  the  same  time  giving  the 
fullest  possible  rein  to  those  local  feelings  which  are  so 
strong  in  various  parts  of  our  country,  and  which  this 
measure  in  one  particular  is  intended  specially  to 
conciliate. 


238     WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

"  It  does  seem  to  me,  sometimes,  as  if  there  is  a  danger 
that  in  the  discussion  of  this  great  and  important  point 
we  may  be  distracted  from  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the 
special  Bill,  the  Second  Reading  of  which  we  are  now 
discussing,  and  that  we  may  not  face,  as  I  think  we 
ought  to  face,  the  real  feelings  that  are  animating  the 
men  who,  greatly  to  the  distress  of  us  all,  have  armed 
themselves  in  Ulster,  have  drilled  in  Ulster,  and  have 
taken  up  an  attitude  certainly  of  potential  rebellion 
in  Ulster.  Nothing  astonishes  me  more  than  the  con- 
trast between  the  arguments  that  are  advanced  against 
Home  Rule  in  this  House  and  by  hon.  gentlemen  opposite 
and  the  arguments  that  are  advanced  against  Home 
Rule  in  Ulster  and  that  are  incorporated  in  the  mani- 
festos that  are  sent  across  the  Channel  from  the  Ulster 
people,  and  some  of  which,  at  any  rate,  I  hold  in  my  hand 
to-day.  I  venture  to  say  that  there  is  not  a  single  right 
hon.  or  hon.  Member  on  the  benches  opposite,  although 
he  is  championing  the  cause  of  these  people,  who  in  this 
House  takes  upon  his  lips  the  sort  of  thing  that  is  being 
used  by  the  Ulster  people,  and  adopts  the  arguments 
they  have  adopted  against  Home  Rule. 

"  I  am  going  to  quote  from  two  of  the  manifestos  that 
have  reached  me  and  that  are  made  the  special  appeal, 
if  I  may  say  so,  to  the  Free  Churchmen  of  this  country, 
and  then  ask  hon.  Members  whether  they  imagine  that 
the  mere  fact  of  a  bare  majority  on  a  Referendum  would 
make  the  slightest  difference  in  the  world  to  people  who 
believe  what  these  people  believe.  Let  me  take,  first  of 
all,  a  manifesto  that  is  being  issued  by  the  Synod  of  the 
Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland.  I  under- 
stand— I  want  to  be  perfectly  frank  in  this  matter — 
that  this  is  not  a  very  large  body,  but  these  men  are 
part  of  the  Covenanting  Army.  These  are  the  men  who 
have  been  drilled,  and  who  have  enrolled  themselves 
under  the  leadership  of  the  right  hon.  gentleman  the 
Member  for  Dublin  University  [Sir  E.  Carson]. 


WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS     239 

"  In  their  manifesto,  as  sent  to  me,  these  words 
occur : — 

'  It  will  be  for  ever  impossible  to  fight  Home  Rule 
successfully  so  long  as  it  is  contended  or  admitted  that 
the  Romanists  and  other  open  enemies  of  the  true 
religion  ought  to  have  any  political  power.  We  regard 
the  so-called  Catholic  Emancipation  Act  as  the  first 
great  step  towards  Home  Rule.  From  the  time  of  the 
passing  of  the  Act  which  gave  the  Romanists  the  fran- 
chise dates  the  beginning  of  their  power  to  threaten  the 
liberties  of  the  Protestants.' 

"  I  repeat  that  these  men,  and  those  whom  they 
represent,  are  members  of  the  Covenanting  Army. 
These  are  the  watchwords  that  are  going  through  the 
North  of  Ireland.  These  are  the  men  whose  cause  hon. 
Members  opposite  are  championing.  All  I  can  say  is, 
if  any  of  them  ever  said  upon  the  platform  that  all  the 
Covenanters  of  the  North  of  Ireland  are  standing  for 
is  perfect  equality,  and  that  they  are  not  asking  for 
ascendancy,  then  they  have  to  face  the  manifestos 
of  people  who  ask  that  their  Catholic  neighbours  should 
be  disfranchised  in  order  that  they  may  have  absolute 
political  power  themselves.  I  quite  admit  that  I  do 
not  lay  any  great  stress  upon  that  particular  manifesto, 
but  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  manifesto  which  is  much  more 
serious. 

"  It  is  a  manifesto  sent  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Macaulay, 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  I  am  bound  myself  to  take  note  of  a  document 
of  this  kind.  This  is  an  appeal  to  the  Free  Churchmen 
of  England  to  support  them,  and  I  hope  that  the  House 
will  understand  that  I  have  read  it  with  every  desire 
to  see  things,  as  far  as  I  can,  from  their  point  of  view. 
Let  me  ask  the  House  what  is  the  position  that  is  adopted 
by  these  gentlemen,  and  let  me  ask  hon.  gentlemen 


240     WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

opposite  once  again  whether  they  can  suppose  that  any 
Referendum  that  can  be  taken  in  this  country  would 
make  the  slightest  difference  to  people  who  believe  the 
kind  of  things  that  are  put  into  this  document.  I  will 
only  quote  four  short  sentences  from  this  appeal : — 

4  You  may  be  assured  that  nothing  will  be  left  undone 
by  the  Vatican  to  form  Ireland  into  a  submissive  and 
efficient  instrument  of  its  will.' 

"  This  is  the  first  point  they  take  up — that  this  is 
a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  conspiracy  against  the  well-being 
of  Ireland ;  that  the  Vatican  is  behind  it  all ;  and  that 
the  Vatican's  one  determination  is  to  form  Ireland  into 
a  submissive  instrument  of  its  will.  If  I  believed  that, 
I  would  go  out  with  the  Covenanters. 

"  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  this  agitation  in  the 
North  of  Ireland  has  nothing  whatever  in  common  with 
the  arguments  that  are  used.  When  the  right  hon. 
gentleman  the  Member  for  Edinburgh  University  [Sir 
R.  Finlay]  to-day  came,  in  the  last  part  of  his  speech, 
to  certain  practical  difficulties,  and  pointed  out,  as  he 
believed,  defects  of  machinery  and  so  forth,  there  was 
weight,  no  doubt,  in  his  criticism,  as  there  has  been 
much  weight  in  the  criticism  passed  from  those  benches  ; 
but  for  the  criticism  passed  from  those  benches  not  a 
hundred  men  in  Ireland  would  drill  or  arm  themselves. 
They  are  not  out  there  as  Covenanters  because  they 
believe  there  is  a  difficulty  in  adjusting  local  and  Imperial 
finance  ;  they  are  out  there  because  they  believe  a  pure 
hallucination,  which  is  that  there  is  a  sinister  Roman 
Catholic  conspiracy  to  bring  them  into  a  submissive  in- 
strument to  the  will  of  the  Vatican.  Take  the  second  :— 

'  You  are  under  no  illusion  as  to  the  persistence  and 
resourcefulness  of  the  ecclesiastical  crisis,  as  you  know 
that,  under  an  Irish  Government,  the  worst  form  of 
sacerdotal  lordship  will  have  an  open  field.' 


WORK  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  COMMONS  241 
Take  the  third  :— 

'  We  entreat  you  not  to  take  part  in  thrusting  us  and 
our  children  under  this  insidious  and  intolerable  rule.' 

And  finally : — 

'  Would  it  not  be  an  amazing  spectacle  to  see  the 
Free  Churches  of  Great  Britain  in  alliance  with  Irish 
Roman  Catholics  to  put  their  Protestant  brethren  under 
the  heels  of  a  Papal  absolutism  ?  ' 

That  is  the  document  which  represents  the  real  opinion 
of  the  Covenanters,  and  it  is  a  document  I  defy  any  hon. 
or  right  hon.  gentleman  opposite  to  rise  and  say  is  the 
reason  why  he  himself  is  supporting  the  Covenanters 
or  opposing  Home  Rule.  In  point  of  fact,  we  have  come 
to  this  position  :  that  nothing  that  this  House  can  do, 
no  concession  that  this  House  can  make,  can  possibly 
alter  the  judgment  of  men  who  believe  that  they  are 
going  to  be  put  under  the  heel  of  a  Papal  absolutism. 

"  I  have  fought  as  hard  as  most  people  against  what 
is  called  sacerdotal  lordship,  but  throughout  it  has  never 
occurred  to  me  to  go  to  the  Chief  Whip  of  the  Unionist 
Party  and  ask  him  to  organize  the  whole  forces  of 
Unionism  in  this  country  to  prevent  me  from  being  put 
under  the  heel  of  Papal  absolutism.  The  whole  point 
of  the  Irish  situation  is  simple.  You  have  a  large  body 
of  people  who,  on  the  score  of  their  industry,  of  their 
integrity,  and  their  commercial  genius,  are  deserving 
of  all  respect,  but  on  the  other  side  of  their  nature,  on 
the  side  of  their  theological  and  ecclesiastical  opinion, 
they  are  the  victims  of  a  pure  hallucination.  That  is 
just  the  difficulty  with  which  we  are  confronted  at  the 
present  time.  It  may  be  possible  we  shall  have  it  urged 
upon  us  that,  after  all,  our  sympathies  ought  to  be 
enlisted  with  men  whose  creeds  in  some  respects  we 
16 


242    WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

share,  and  with  whose  general  witness  and  testimony 
we  are  associated.  But  I  absolutely  deny  on  the  floor 
of  this  House  that  that  is  Protestantism. 

"  After  all,  Protestantism  as  we  understand  it,  the 
Protestantism  of  which  I  am  a  most  sincere  and  earnest 
supporter,  has,  as  part  of  its  genius,  the  genius  of  toler- 
ation, and  when  we  are  told  that  in  supporting  the  Home 
Rule  Bill  we  are  doing  an  injury  to  the  Protestant  faith, 
I  ask  the  Government  to  believe  that  the  Home  Rule 
Bill  is,  in  our  judgment,  by  strengthening  the  power  of 
the  people,  the  most  important  weapon  that  can  be  used 
in  support  of  that  faith  in  Ireland.  And  we  believe,  as 
was  pointed  out  by  a  previous  speaker,  that  to  bring 
all  types  of  people  together,  to  bring  all  forms  of  creeds 
into  one  assembly,  not  to  discuss  the  merits  of  Tran- 
substantiation,  but  to  discuss  the  well-being  of  the  Irish 
people  and  the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  Ireland,  is 
the  best  way  to  deliver  Ireland  from  this  nightmare  on 
the  part  of  the  Protestant  community. 

"  We  have  had  put  before  us  the  federal  principle 
as  a  possible  development  of  the  problem.  The  right 
hon.  gentleman  the  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  as 
has  been  pointed  out,  hinted  that  this  is  the  line  on  which 
we  might  possibly  seek  a  peaceful  solution.  I  should  like 
to  say  a  few  words  about  those  bitter  years  around  1886, 
when  a  multitude  of  Free  Churchmen  and  their  friends 
deserted  the  Liberal  ranks.  We  know  quite  well  how 
the  wedge  of  division  was  driven  into  the  Nonconformist 
ranks  in  that  year.  The  two  leaders  of  Nonconformity — 
the  two  greatest  leaders  at  that  time — were  both 
associated  with  the  life  of  Birmingham.  One  was  the 
right  hon.  gentleman  the  Member  for  West  Birmingham, 
who,  we  all  wish,  was  able  to  be  present  here  to-day,  and 
the  other  was  Dr.  Dale.  The  Life  of  Dr.  Dale  has  since 
been  written.  In  it  there  is  a  remarkable  letter  in  regard 
to  the  position  of  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  I  mention  it  here 
to-day  because  it  shows  that  he  was  wishful,  even  at  that 


WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF   COMMONS    243 

time,  to  see  such  a  settlement  as  pointed  to  an  eventual 
federal  settlement. 

"  Dr.  Dale  wrote  these  words,  and  they  have  never 
been  denied.  The  book  has  been  published  for  many 
years  : — 

'  Mr.  Chamberlain's  own  settled  convictions  have  been 
long  familiar  to  me.  We  discussed  them  at  a  time  when 
they  were  considered  perilously  rash  by  members  of  the 
present  Cabinet.  I  always  told  him  that  his  proposals 
were  inadequate,  and  that  a  body  in  Dublin  with  powers 
which  would  justify  the  name  of  a  Parliament  was  a 
necessary  element  in  any  final  solution  of  the  difficulty. 
When  Mr.  Gladstone's  Bill  was  brought  forward,  he  recog- 
nized the  gravity  of  the  new  conditions  of  the  case,  and 
was  willing  to  accept  a  Dublin  Legislature  on  condition 
that  the  Irish  Members  were  retained  at  Westminster, 
and  that  the  Bill  received  the  modifications  which  were 
necessarily  involved  in  their  retention.' 

"  Immediately  afterwards  Dr.  Dale  wrote  to  the 
Contemporary  Review  a  remarkable  article  on  Home  Rule, 
which  drew  from  Archbishop  Walsh  the  testimony  '  that 
it  contained  in  it  practically  all  the  elements  of  a  thor- 
oughly satisfactory,  because  complete  and  final,  settle- 
ment of  the  whole  question.'  The  Nonconformists  at 
that  time — the  dissentient  Nonconformists  at  that  time 
who  have  so  largely  come  back  to  the  Liberal  Party  over 
the  question  of  Education — were  represented  by  Dr.  Dale 
and  Mr.  Chamberlain,  and  they  took  the  action  they  did 
because  they  thought  Mr.  Gladstone's  original  scheme 
lacked  a  certain  vital  element  which  was  going  to  point 
to  the  federal  solution  of  '  Home  Rule  all  round.'  If  I 
could  speak  to  the  right  hon.  gentleman  the  Member  for 
East  Worcestershire  [Mr.  Austen  Chamberlain],  I  would 
ask  him  to  make  himself  the  trustee  of  that  noble 
tradition  of  Liberal-Unionism." 

One  at  least  of  the  veterans  of  Liberal-Unionism — Mr. 


244    WORK   IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS 

Jesse  Ceilings — wanned  to  this  appeal,  and  spoke  sub- 
sequently of  the  speech  with  high  appreciation. 

The  question  may  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  reader 
whether  it  was  worth  while  for  Home  to  enter  Parlia- 
ment, to  give  up  so  much  of  his  time  and  spend  so  much 
bodily  and  mental  energy  to  winning  and  holding  a  seat 
and  to  the  duties  of  an  ordinary  Member.  It  is  not  easy 
to  give  a  definite  reply.  It  was  no  doubt  a  satisfaction 
to  his  fellow  Free  Churchmen  to  have  in  the  House  of 
Commons  one  who  was  so  competent  to  give  clear  and 
distinguished  expression  to  their  views  and  ideals. 
They  felt  like  the  Welsh  miners'  representative  who 
thanked  the  Hon.  Member  (for  Ipswich)  for  his  splendid 
vindication  of  the  conscientious  motives  of  the  Welsh 
members  in  prosecution  of  this  measure  (disestablish- 
ment). As  for  the  party  opposite,  while  all  who  followed 
him  in  debate  recognized  the  high  tone  of  his  speeches, 
his  fairness,  his  desire  so  to  put  his  case  as  to  avoid 
hurting  the  feelings  of  any  earnest  opponent,  it  was 
those  whose  standpoint  was  farthest  apart  from  his  who 
listened  to  Home  with  the  most  careful  attention,  and 
were  apparently  won  to  a  better  comprehension  and 
even  sympathy  with  the  Nonconformist  position.  Men 
like  Lord  Robert  and  Lord  Hugh  Cecil,  Sir  A.  Cripps 
(now  Lord  Parmoor),  Mr.  (now  Lord)  Cave,  and  Mr. 
Alfred  Lyttelton  recognized  in  Home  an  earnest  and 
reverent  spirit  like  their  own,  and  could  appeal  to  him 
to  appreciate  their  zeal  for  religious  education  and  to 
join  them  in  pursuing  a  reform  of  the  Church  which  they 
imagined  could  be  secured  without  disestablishment. 
He  seemed  to  them  a  new  and  interesting  type  of  M.P. 
This  gave  him  considerable  advantage  in  the  conferences 
and  negotiations  on  the  education  difficulty  which  took 
place  during  the  whole  life  of  the  Liberal  Government. 
During  the  later  months  he  gave  much  time  and 
thought  to  the  work  of  a  committee  on  which  he  served, 
with  Cabinet  Ministers  and  others,  striving  to  arrive 


WORK    IN    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS     245 

at  an  arrangement  which  should  put  an  end  to  the  long 
controversy  about  denominational  teaching  in  public 
elementary  schools.  The  scheme  never  saw  the  light. 
The  outbreak  of  war  was  fatal  to  it. 

Of  course,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as  everywhere 
else,  Home  made  many  friends,  and  the  programme  of 
speakers  at  the  Whitefields  men's  meeting  was  more 
than  ever  effulgent  with  the  names  of  Members  of 
Parliament.  After  Home's  death  Lord  Reading  wrote 
to  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  as  follows  :— 

"  Of  all  the  men  I  have  met  I  always  singled  him  out 
as  having  the  loftiest  conceptions  of  public  life  and  as 
actuated  by  the  noblest  purposes.  I  was  always  the 
better  for  a  talk  with  him.  He  always  lifted  one  to  his 
higher  planes  of  thought.  In  the  present  day  it  was 
an  inspiration  to  hear  his  political  conceptions  and 
purposes  of  life." 

As  an  example  of  Home's  political  activity  long  before 
he  entered  Parliament,  the  following  story  is  of  interest. 
It  was  at  the  time  when  the  question  of  establishing  a 
Roman  Catholic  university  in  Ireland  was  before  the 
country.  Nonconformists  generally  were  very  uneasy 
about  the  project,  and  at  the  request  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Birrell,  then  Chief  Secretary,  Home  went  to  Ireland  to 
investigate  the  subject  for  himself.1  He  wrote  of  his 
tour  as  follows  : — 

"  DUBLIN, 

"  January  8,  1908. 

".  .  .  I  had  a  busy  and  interesting  day  yesterday. 
Old  Principal  Hamilton  is  really  a  great  man.  I  take  it 
that  he  is  a  Tory  in  politics,  but  if  so,  it  is  all  the  greater 
achievement  for  Birrell  to  have  captured  him,  which  he 
has  most  thoroughly  done.  The  old  man  was  most  kind, 

1  See  above,  p.  198. 


246  WORKS   IN   THE    HOUSE   OF   COMMONS 

and  simply  would  not  let  me  go,  pouring  out  information 
for  hours.  I  am  profoundly  glad  I  came  here,  for  no 
amount  of  reading  in  Blue  books  would  have  taught  me 
what  I  learned  in  my  four  or  five  hours  with  Hamilton. 
It  is  really  an  interesting  situation,  and  there  is  a  bare 
possibility  evidently  that  Birrell  will  succeed  where  all 
his  predecessors  have  failed.  If  so,  he  will  leave  his 
mark  on  the  destiny  of  Ireland.  ..." 

"  CORK, 

"  January  9,  1908. 

"...  For  six  mortal  hours  did  I  travel  this  day 
through  the  heart  of  this  most  melancholy  land.  The 
rain  had  literally  never  ceased  since  I  landed  early  on 
Monday ;  but  it  cleared  awhile  as  we  were  nearing  Cork, 
and  it  is  now  moonlight.  When  I  say  that  it  was  well 
worth  while  the  toilsome  journey  to  hear  what  President 
Windle  had  to  say  about  Catholics  and  Ireland  from  the 
inside,  you  will  judge  that  I  had  a  good  time  with  him. 
I  cannot  write  the  details,  but  decidedly  I  have  gained 
an  enormous  amount  of  what  should  be  information — 
for  I  am  sure  it  comes  through  an  honest  man.  Birrell 
has  again  scored  here,  and  Windle,  contrary  to  some 
big  prejudices,  is  quite  a  believer  in  A.  B.,  and  prepared 
to  be  his  henchman." 

"  DUBLIN, 

"  January  10,  1908. 

"...  I  got  back  from  Cork  this  morning,  and  have 
come  to  this  hotel  because  it  is  so  much  more  central  and 
convenient.  Most  of  this  afternoon  I  have  been  dis- 
cussing education  with  two  very  clever  men  from  Belfast ; 
both  Unionists.  To-night  Sir  James  Dougherty  is 
entertaining  a  large  party  to  meet  me — judges  and 
divines  and  all  sorts.  Birrell  will  possibly  be  there. 
To-morrow  I  finish  up  by  interviewing  the  head  of  the 


WORKS   IN  THE   HOUSE   OF  COMMONS  247 

Jesuit  College  and  the  Provost  of  Trinity.     I  shall  have 
much  to  tell  you  when  I  get  back.  ..." 

On  his  return  home  he  contributed  to  the  press 
several  articles  on  the  subject,  the  sane  and  judicious 
tone  of  which  did  much  to  reassure  Nonconformist  fears 
and  to  disarm  opposition. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AN  ITINERANT   MINISTRY 

(Contributed  by  DR.  J.  D.  JONES) 

FOR  several  years  Silvester  Home  and  I  were  in  the  habit 
of  devoting  the  inside  of  a  week  to  the  visitation  of  the 
small  churches  of  some  chosen  county  or  district.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  say  how  the  habit  came  to  be  formed. 
Perhaps  the  idea  first  took  shape  after  I  had  heard  of  a 
cycling  tour  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Home  had  taken 
through  Shropshire,  in  the  course  of  which  he  preached 
and  spoke  at  several  of  our  small  country  churches  in 
the  villages  through  which  they  passed.  I  remember 
thinking  the  idea  was  an  excellent  one,  and  the  next 
time  I  met  Home  I  suggested  we  should  combine  forces 
and  conduct  a  similar  visitation  the  following  year 
amongst  the  Hampshire  churches.  But  while  Home's 
cycling  tour  in  Shropshire  may  have  given  the  idea  body 
and  shape,  back  of  these  annual  visitations  of  ours  there 
lay  a  great  sympathy  and  a  great  conviction.  There 
was,  to  begin  with,  a  great  sympathy  with  the  country 
minister  and  the  country  church.  Home  felt  a  chival- 
rous admiration  for  these  men  and  these  churches  who 
were  doing  their  work  often  amidst  great  difficulties 
and  discouragements.  He  was  eager  to  help  and  en- 
courage them  in  every  way  he  could.  These  visitations 
gave  him  the  sort  of  opportunity  he  desired.  For  though 
we  might  begin,  or  in  some  cases  finish,  our  series  of 
meetings  at  what  might  be  called  a  town  church,  it  was 
always  understood  that  the  tiny  country  and  village 

248 


AN   ITINERANT   MINISTRY  249 

churches  were  our  special  concern.  We  desired  to 
"  strengthen  their  hands  in  love."  Some  of  the  tender- 
est  and  most  beautiful  addresses  I  ever  heard  Home 
deliver  were  given  in  these  small  country  churches. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  address  which  he  gave  at  Ripley, 
at  the  first  meeting  of  our  Hampshire  visitation,  on 
"  Living  a  Great  Life  in  a  Small  Place "  ;  or  the 
exquisitely  gracious  and  encouraging  address  he  gave  at 
Berrynarbor,  at  the  closing  meeting  of  our  North  Devon 
visitation,  on  God  justifying  us  by  our  faith  and  taking 
the  will  for  the  deed.  The  address  was  a  veritable  bene- 
diction, full  of  balm  for  tired  minds  and  weary  hearts. 
I  was  often  made  to  feel  that  those  who  only  saw  Home 
addressing  crowded  audiences,  flaming  with  passion  him- 
self and  kindling  others  with  flame  as  well,  saw  only  one 
side  of  him.  It  was  a  great  side,  no  doubt.  He  was  a 
great  master  of  assemblies,  a  first-class  fighting  man. 
But  I,  who  was  privileged  to  be  his  associate  in  this 
quieter  work,  saw  the  other  side  of  him — his  sympathy, 
his  beautiful  courtesy,  his  exquisite  tenderness.  We  had 
no  such  trumpeter  of  the  Lord's  host  as  he,  no  one  who 
could  nerve  us,  as  he  could,  with  courage  for  the  battle ; 
but  the  man  of  war  had  also  a  touch  as  gentle  as  a 
woman's.  And  much  though  I  admired  him  swaying  the 
crowd  at  the  Albert  Hall  or  the  City  Temple,  I  cherish 
with  equal  fondness  my  recollection  of  him  speaking 
words  of  healing  love  to  congregations  of  village  people 
in  the  churches  we  visited  together.  Nor  was  it  by 
speech  alone  that  Home  showed  his  sympathy.  It  was 
impossible  for  us  to  preach  or  speak  at  every  village 
church  in  the  district  we  were  visiting.  But  we  never 
passed  through  a  village  where  there  was  a  Congrega- 
tional church  without  calling  at  the  manse  and  giving 
our  greetings  to  the  minister.  And  what  these  brief 
calls  meant  to  lonely  men  who  can  tell  ?  I  remember 
still  the  surprised  thankfulness  with  which  we  were 
received  at  many  a  village  manse,  and  I  can  picture  to 


250  AN    ITINERANT    MINISTRY 

myself  now  one  country  minister  who  followed  us  about, 
and  who  told  everybody  whom  he  met  that  two 
ex-chairmen  of  the  Union  had  come  in  a  motor-car  and 
visited  him  at  his  manse. 

But  behind  these  annual  visitations  there  was  more 
than  a  deep  and  genuine  sympathy — there  was  also  a 
great  conviction.  Home  believed  in  the  country  church. 
He  believed  in  its  witness  and  its  mission.  He  believed 
that  it  had  done  a  great  work  for  England,  and  that  it 
was  doing  a  great  work  still.  A  friend  of  ours  had 
declined  an  invitation  to  minister  to  a  country  church  on 
the  ground  that  he  did  not  feel  he  was  justified  in  leaving 
his  own  church,  where  he  preached  to  hundreds,  to  go 
and  visit  a  small  country  church  where  he  would  only 
preach  to  scores.  "  But,"  said  the  minister  of  the  country 
church  in  question,  "  don't  you  think  you  are  neglecting 
the  sources  ?  "  Home  and  I  felt  that  the  country 
churches  were  the  "  sources,"  and  we  were  resolved  that 
we  would  not  neglect  them.  These  "  visitations  "  of  our 
seemed  to  us  to  give  us  exactly  the  opportunity  we 
wanted  of  doing  our  share  in  the  way  of  cultivating  "  the 
sources."  For,  with  all  the  will  in  the  world,  men  who 
hold  heavy  and  exacting  town  pastorates  cannot  spare 
very  much  time  for  work  in  the  country.  A  visit  to  a 
church  in  Shropshire  or  in  Devon,  either  from  London 
or  Bournemouth,  occupied  the  whole  of  two  days.  But 
by  arranging  for  a  series  of  meetings  on  successive  days, 
and  by  employing  our  afternoons  as  well  as  our  evenings, 
we  were  able  to  do  in  the  inside  of  a  week  what  would 
have  been  the  work  of  a  couple  of  months  if  we  had  had 
to  journey  specially  to  each  individual  church.  And 
that  these  "  visitations  "  of  ours  did  really  stimulate 
and  encourage  our  village  churches  certain  letters  and 
resolutions  which  lie  before  me  as  I  write  amply  prove. 

It  was  mainly  and  primarily  to  help  our  country 
churches  that  we  undertook  these  annual  "  tours  "  ;  but 
I  should  not  be  telling  the  whole  story  if  I  did  not  add 


AN    ITINERANT    MINISTRY  251 

that  the  chance  of  having  five  days  in  one  another's 
company  was  also  part  of  the  attraction.  I  do  not  know 
how  or  when  Home  and  I  became  first  acquainted,  but 
the  acquaintance  soon  ripened  and  deepened  into  a  fast 
and  close  friendship.  "  The  soul  of  Jonathan  was  knit 
with  the  soul  of  David,  and  Jonathan  loved  him  as  his 
own  soul."  But  Home  was  all  his  ministerial  life  a  Lon- 
doner, and  I  have  been  all  my  ministerial  life  a  country 
man,  so  that  our  opportunities  of  meeting  were  not 
frequent.  We  welcomed,  therefore,  the  chance  which 
these  visitations  afforded  of  having  a  few  days  of  happy 
fellowship  together.  For  it  was  a  rule  with  us  that 
though  afternoons  and  evenings  were  devoted  to  meet- 
ings, the  mornings  were  kept  free  for  play.  That  was 
why  we  generally  made  our  headquarters  in  the  vicinity 
of  golf-links.  When  we  were  making  our  arrangements 
a  post-card  would  usually  reach  me  from  Whitefields  with 
the  peremptory  message,  "  Bring  your  sticks,"  and 
amongst  my  sunniest  recollections  of  Home  are  those  of 
the  golf-links,  when  he  was  gay,  care-free,  and  happy, 
especially  when  he  and  I,  representing  the  church,  gained 
the  victory  over  Frank  Tribe,  of  Bristol,  and  Alfred 
Sargeant,  of  Hove,  representing  "the  world."  The 
mention  of  Frank  Tribe  and  Alfred  Sargeant  reminds 
me  of  another  characteristic  of  these  tours  of  ours. 
After  the  first  two  tours — both  of  which  we  did  by  the 
help  of  the  train — we  pressed  the  motor-car  into  the 
service.  And  as  we  had  no  motor-car  of  our  own,  we 
used  to  commandeer  the  services  of  some  well-to-do 
layman,  who  would  put  himself  and  his  motor-car  at  our 
disposal.  We  never  lacked  friends  to  help  us  in  this 
respect.  Sir  Arthur  Nicholson,  Mr.  Alderman  Bantock, 
Mr.  Edward  Cozens-Hardy,  the  late  Mr.  Martin  Lullen 
Moss,  the  late  Mr.  J.  J.  Allen,  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Beale,  of 
Bournemouth,  at  one  time  or  another  piloted  us  to  our 
various  engagements.  But  the  two  friends  who  did 
most  for  us  were  Frank  Tribe  and  Alfred  Sargeant. 


252  AN   ITINERANT   MINISTRY 

Frank  Tribe  acted  as  our  chauffeur,  both  for  North 
Devon  and  for  Gloucestershire.  Meetings,  hotels,  golf — 
everything  was  arranged  by  him.  Alfred  Sargeant 
placed  his  car  at  our  service,  both  for  Gloucestershire 
and  Sussex.  And  these  two  companions  of  ours  were 
not  content  with  piloting  us  about  and  playing  us  at 
golf:  they  took  their  turn,  also,  at  presiding  at  the  various 
meetings  we  addressed,  and  so  added  to  the  usefulness 
and  happiness  of  the  tours.  When  the  idea  of  these 
visitations  was  first  suggested,  it  was  a  cycling  tour 
that  was  in  our  minds.  That  was  what  our  tour  in 
Hampshire  was  to  have  been.  But  the  weather  put 
cycling  clean  out  of  the  question,  so  we  fell  back  upon 
the  train.  Our  second  tour  was  amongst  the  churches 
in  the  border  counties  and  in  Wales.  It  was  never  our 
intention  to  do  this  in  any  other  way  than  by  train, 
the  distance  being  so  great.  But  from  that  time  on 
it  was  always  the  motor-car.  In  these  early  days  the 
motor  was  not  so  reliable  a  thing  as  it  is  now,  and  we 
had  sundry  adventures  in  our  peregrinations.  Once  we 
had  what  might  have  been  a  rather  serious  accident. 
We  had  been  on  an  excursion  to  the  Birmingham  water- 
works, when  between  Rhayader  and  Llandrindod  some- 
thing went  wrong  with  the  steering  gear.  The  result  was 
we  bumped  into  a  stone  wall,  but  happily  at  such  an 
angle  that  the  car  was  sent  to  the  other  side  of  the  road, 
where  there  was  a  green  hedge  and  a  ditch.  There  it 
overturned,  flinging  all  four  occupants  out.  With  the 
exception  of  the  driver — who  had  his  collar-bone  broken 
— no  one  was  seriously  hurt.  But  I  always  maintain 
that  I  saved  Home's  life  on  that  occasion,  for  I  fell  first 
into  the  ditch  and  he  came  tumbling  on  top  of  me.  There 
might  have  been  a  different  tale  to  tell  had  the  positions 
been  reversed.  Our  other  adventures  were  mostly  of 
the  humorous  kind.  I  remember  very  well  a  series  of 
mishaps  we  had  one  day  during  our  Norfolk  tour.  The 
final  disaster  came  when  we  were  motoring  to  Fakenham 


AN    ITINERANT   MINISTRY  253 

for  the  evening  meeting.  Just  outside  Melton  Constable 
our  tyre  went  off  with  a  bang,  and  as  we  had  used  up  all 
our  spare  tyres  and  tubes,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but 
to  walk  back  to  Melton  Constable  and  wait  for  a  train. 
We  wired  to  Mr.  W.  H.  Brown,  who  was  presiding  at  the 
meeting,  in  the  words  of  the  old  hymn,  "  Hold  the  fort, 
for  we  are  coming."  We  got  there  an  hour  late.  Mr. 
Brown  was  still  bravely  "  holding  the  fort."  But  I  am 
sure  no  beleaguered  garrison  was  ever  more  pleased  to 
see  the  approach  of  the  relieving  force  than  he  was  to 
see  our  faces  as  we  came  in  at  the  front  door.  But 
with  the  exception  of  an  incident  or  two  of  that  sort  in 
the  early  tours,  the  motor-car  carried  us  to  every 
engagement  without  lapse  or  failure. 

It  was  with  Hampshire  we  began.  I  had  arranged 
for  meetings  at  Ripley,  Throop,  Ringwood,  and  Romsey. 
Let  the  meetings  at  Throop  suffice  by  way  of  illustration 
of  the  work  we  did.  Happily  the  day  was  a  fine,  warm 
day  in  a  week  of  pouring  rain.  The  Throop  "  picnic," 
as  it  is  known,  is  always  a  great  day  in  the  annals  of 
local  Congregationalism.  Throop  is  sufficiently  near  to 
both  Bournemouth  and  Christchurch  to  be  a  convenient 
rallying-place  for  the  Congregationalists  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood. They  pour  out  on  foot,  on  cycles,  in  car- 
riages and  chars-a-bancs  and  motor-cars.  But  never  did 
such  a  crowd  gather  as  on  this  particular  occasion.  The 
little  chapel  was  thronged  to  the  roof.  It  was  terri- 
fically hot — but  who  cared  for  heat !  Home,  in  his  after- 
noon sermon  on  "  Give  alms  of  that  which  is  within," 
was  on  the  top  of  his  form,  while  his  speech  on  Congrega- 
tionalism at  the  evening  meeting  simply  kindled  his 
audience  with  flame.  Then,  as  if  two  meetings  were  not 
enough,  on  the  way  home  we  stopped  for  a  crowded 
meeting  at  Winton,  where  a  packed  audience  waited 
for  us,  who  were  amply  rewarded  by  the  speech  which 
Home  delivered.  Not  until  after  10  o'clock  did  we 
arrive  back  at  my  manse,  a  tired  but  happy  couple. 


254  AN    ITINERANT    MINISTRY 

Although  the  weather  was  unkind  to  us  in  Hampshire, 
Home's  comment  after  the  last  meeting  was,  "  Well, 
J.  D.,  we  have  had  a  rattling  good  time."  We  felt  that 
the  experiment  had  so  justified  itself  that  we  resolved  to 
undertake  a  similar  visitation  the  following  year.  Mr. 
John  Hugh  Edwards  (now  M.P.)  claimed  us  that  year  for 
the  border  counties  and  for  Wales.  We  began  our  tour 
at  Shrewsbury  and  finished  it  at  Aberystwith.  It  was 
perhaps  less  of  a  "  country  "  tour  than  any  one  of  the 
series.  But  in  its  own  way  it  was  interesting.  AtNewtown 
Home  and  I  had  a  taste  of  the  Welsh  cymanfa  practice — 
for  we  both  preached  at  the  same  service.  The  Aberyst- 
with meeting  was  a  grand  climax,  and  was  memorable  to 
us  for  the  kindly  words  of  appreciation  and  gratitude 
spoken  by  the  late  Dr.  Denney  (of  Glasgow)  at  the  close. 

The  following  year  we  were  back  again  in  the  real 
country,  for  Norfolk  was  the  scene  of  our  labours.  Nor- 
folk had  a  special  attraction  for  Home,  for  at  the  time 
he  had  a  seaside  home  at  Sheringham,  and  he  had  made 
fast  friends  with  the  fisher-folk  of  that  place  and  with 
the  people  of  the  country-side.  And  besides,  Sheringham 
had  a  famous  golf-course  !  The  Norfolk  tour  was  one 
of  the  happiest  and  most  fruitful  of  them  all.  Certain 
incidents  still  stand  out  amongst  my  most  vivid  recol- 
lections— the  visit  we  paid  to  Shipdam,  the  birthplace 
of  Henry  Barrowe,  and  the  happy  tea-hour  we  spent  sub- 
sequently with  Judge  Willis,  when  he  dubbed  us  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  and  called  Mr.  Kenward  (who  was  then 
minister  at  Norwich,  and  who  had  accompanied  us  on 
that  particular  excursion)  our  "  Timothy."  Of  meet- 
ings during  this  tour  the  one  we  held  on  Aldborough 
Green  was  the  most  memorable.  I  had  often  heard  of 
this  annual  demonstration  on  Aldborough  Green. 
Home  had  been  there  before,  and  used  to  speak  of  it 
as  something  almost  unique  in  the  way  of  country  Free 
Church  demonstrations.  After  seeing  for  myself,  I  felt 
no  surprise  at  his  enthusiasm.  On  this  particular  occa- 


AN   ITINERANT    MINISTRY  255 

sion  over  600  people  had  sat  down  to  tea.  For  the 
meeting  which  followed  double  that  number  packed 
themselves  into  the  tent.  Mr.  S.  Cozens-Hardy  was  in 
the  chair  ;  Sir  William  Brampton  Gurdon,  the  M.P.  for 
the  division,  was  on  the  platform,  while  Home  and  I 
were  the  speakers.  What  a  meeting  it  was — responsive, 
electric,  full  of  fire  !  He  would  be  a  dull  man  who  could 
not  speak  to  such  an  audience.  They  had  come  from 
all  parts  of  Norfolk  to  attend  it ;  but  one  man,  who  had 
ridden  thirty  miles  on  his  cycle  to  come,  and  had  to  ride 
another  thirty  miles  after  the  meeting  was  over,  said  he 
would  have  cheerfully  done  double  the  distance  for  the 
privilege  of  sharing  in  the  inspiration  of  that  meeting. 
The  remembrance  of  that  great  meeting  tempts  one  to 
remark,  in  passing,  on  the  influence  our  staunch  and 
convinced  Free  Churchmen  can  exert  in  the  country 
side.  The  credit  of  the  Aldborough  meeting  was  all  due 
to  Mr.  Cook,  of  Aldborough  Mill.  He  was  a  man  after 
Home's  own  heart,  and  again  and  again  has  he  spoken 
to  me  about  him  in  terms  of  unstinted  praise.  A  man 
of  conviction  as  well  as  of  influence,  Mr.  Cook  had  become 
a  tower  of  strength  to  Nonconformists  throughout  the 
whole  of  Norfolk.  One  other  feature  of  our  Norfolk 
tour  deserves  notice,  and  that  was  the  attention  given 
to  us  by  the  press.  The  daily  newspapers  reported  fully 
all  our  meetings.  So  much  public  interest  was  aroused 
that  the  Anglican  clergy  began  to  be  curious,  and  wrote 
letters  enquiring  what  was  the  object  of  our  "  passionate 
pilgrimage."  I  don't  know  that  either  of  us  cared 
personally  for  publicity,  but  we  were  grateful  for  it  in 
so  far  as  it  helped  forward  the  cause  we  had  at  heart. 
To  Norfolk  succeeded  North  Devon,  for  which  tour 
Mr.  Frank  Tribe  acted  as  our  guide.  The  motor,  this 
time,  was  supplied  by  Mr.  Butler,  of  Bristol,  who  was  his 
own  chauffeur.  We  appreciated  Mr.  Butler's  kindness 
the  more  as  he  was  not  a  Congregationalist,  but  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  Methodist  Church.  We  began  this 


256  AN    ITINERANT   MINISTRY 

tour  at  Bridgwater  and  finished  it  at  Berrynarbor,  a 
tiny  village  not  far  from  Ilfracombe.  In  the  course  of 
the  tour  we  visited  Wiveliscombe,  B.arnstaple,  Bideford, 
Lynton,  Muddeford,  Braunton,  and  Morthoe.  It  was  a 
delightful  tour,  spent  amid  delightful  surroundings  and 
favoured  with  delightful  weather.  And  we  had  glorious 
games  on  the  links  at  Wollacombe  and  Burnham  and 
Westward  Ho  !  Looking  back  after  this  lapse  of  time, 
I  have  vivid  memories  of  two  things  :  first,  of  a  sermon 
Home  preached  at  Wiveliscombe  on  "  We  are  come  .  .  . 
to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born  " — 
one  of  the  most  moving  sermons  I  have  ever  heard  from 
him.  And  secondly,  of  an  incident  that  happened  at 
our  Lynton  meeting.  Sitting  in  the  very  front  was  an 
old  man,  accompanied  by  his  elderly  daughter.  It  was 
my  turn  to  speak  first.  This  old  man  drew  and  held 
my  attention.  There  he  sat,  dull,  stolid,  irresponsive. 
I  did  all  I  knew  to  bring  some  gleam  into  his  face,  to 
extract  from  him  some  sign  of  appreciation — but  all  in 
vain.  He  acted  on  me  as  a  very  wet  blanket.  During 
the  singing  of  the  next  hymn,  I  ventured  to  wish  Home 
better  luck  with  my  stolid  friend.  "  He's  deaf,"  Home 
said.  But  he  wasn't  deaf  at  all,  as  the  issue  proved. 
Home  had  proceeded  some  way  with  his  speech  without 
eliciting  the  slightest  response,  when  he  had  occasion 
to  refer  to  a  visit  he  paid  to  Dundee.  "  Now,"  he  said, 
"  whenever  I  visit  a  town  for  the  first  time  I  consult  an 
encyclopaedia  to  find  out  any  things  for  which  it  may  be 
famous.  But  all  I  could  find  Dundee  was  famous  for 
was  marmalade."  At  that  there  was  a  tremendous 
guffaw  from  the  old  gentleman  in  the  front.  All  my 
own  best  stories  and  attempts  at  jokes,  and  some  of 
Home's,  had  failed  to  touch  him,  but  somehow  or  other 
"  marmalade  "  opened  his  heart.  After  that  Home  had 
him  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand.  It  became  a  joke  with  us 
ever  after  that  when  things  were  going  badly  with  us 
we  must  "  try  marmalade." 


AN    ITINERANT    MINISTRY  257 

The  following  year  our  work  lay  amid  scenes  very 
different  from  those  of  North  Devon,  for  we  divided  our 
time  between  the  Black  Country  and  the  Potteries.  Mr. 
Bantock  took  charge  of  us  during  the  days  we  spent  in 
the  Black  Country  and  Sir  Arthur  Nicholson  did  the  like 
for  us  when  we  migrated  north  to  the  Potteries.  We 
never  worked  so  hard,  for  in  the  afternoons  we  were 
separated,  and  had  each  to  conduct  a  preaching  service. 
But  it  was  a  great  week,  and  some  of  our  meetings — like 
that  at  West  Bromwich — were  nothing  less  than  tri- 
umphant. But  I  remember  best  a  meeting  we  held  at  a 
little  country  place  called  Outwoods.  It  was  a  favourite 
place  with  Home,  for  he  used  to  go  out  there  to  preach 
in  his  student  days,  perhaps  even  before  he  was  a  student. 
The  good  people  there  had  erected  a  tent  for  the  crowds 
they  had  expected  to  gather.  But  it  turned  out  a 
pouring  wet  day,  and,  though  an  amazing  number  of 
people  came,  the  weather  no  doubt  kept  many  away.  I 
had  been  preaching  in  the  Potteries  in  the  afternoon,  but 
I  joined  Home  at  the  Outwoods  for  the  evening.  I  shall 
never  forget  that  first  meeting.  Sir  Arthur  Nicholson  was 
in  the  chair,  and  in  the  audience  was  Home's  mother. 
We  were  both  of  us  like  schoolboys  let  loose.  I  began 
to  chaff  Home  about  the  number  of  his  birthplaces. 
I  said  that  the  seven  cities  of  Homer  were  nothing  com- 
pared to  the  number  of  Home's  birthplaces.  To  my 
certain  knowledge  I  knew  he  had  been  born  in  Sussex 
and  in  Norfolk,  but  now  I  felt  I  had  really  tracked  him 
to  the  hole  of  the  pit  out  of  which  he  had  been  digged, 
for  there  I  could  see  his  mother  before  me.  It  sounds 
nothing  in  the  repetition,  but  Home's  mother,  and  Home 
himself,  the  chairman,  and  I  were  all  helpless  with  laugh- 
ing. Never  was  such  a  meeting  held  at  Outwoods  :  it 
has  become  a  legend  by  this,  and  whenever  I  visit  Shrop- 
shire I  am  almost  sure  to  be  asked,  "  Do  you  remember 
Outwoods  ?  " 

The  following  year  (1908)  witnessed  a  change  in  our 
17 


258  AN    ITINERANT    MINISTRY 

programme,  for  instead  of  visiting  an  English  county, 
we  went  as  delegates  to  the  Irish  Congregational  Union 
at  Sligo.  We  had  the  company  on  this  tour  of  Mr.  C.  W. 
Toms,  of  London.  It  was  a  happy  week  we  spent 
with  our  Irish  friends.  They  turned  us  on  at  every  con- 
ceivable occasion,  but  as  we  were  able  to  spend  most 
of  our  afternoons  on  the  glorious  links  at  Rosse's  Point, 
we  managed  to  survive  even  the  inordinate  appetite 
for  speeches  of  our  Irish  friends.  We  came  away 
from  this  visit  with  a  great  admiration  for  the  brave 
little  congregation  at  Sligo,  and  with  a  deepened  respect 
for  the  ministers  who  are  maintaining  our  Congregational 
witness  amid  very  inhospitable  surroundings.  Home 
left  before  I  did.  I  saw  him  off  at  Belfast  for  Stranraer. 
He  had  landed  in  Ireland  with  a  bag  and  a  rug  and  an 
umbrella.  He  left  us  that  day  with  a  rug  as  his  only 
luggage.  The  other  things  had  got  lost  en  route — 
though  I  believe  that  subsequently  most  of  them 
turned  up. 

We  were  back  amongst  our  English  counties  in  1909, 
and  as  it  was  my  year  of  chairmanship,  I  was  allowed  to 
choose  the  scene  of  our  labours,  and  I  voted  for  Dorset, 
the  county  on  the  very  border  of  which  Bournemouth 
stands.  For  our  companion  on  this  tour  we  had  Mr. 
(now  Sir)  Stephen  Collins,  then  M.P.  for  one  of  our  London 
divisions.  Sir  Stephen  is  a  great  Dorset  man,  and  was 
in  his  element  presiding  over  our  meetings.  And  great 
and  enthusiastic  meetings  they  were.  We  began  pro- 
ceedings on  the  Monday  at  Wareham  and  finished  up 
on  the  Friday  at  Weymouth,  and  amongst  the  churches 
we  visited  were  Swanage,  Shaftesbury,  Blandford,  Wim- 
borne,  Sherborne,  Poole,  Bridport,  and  Dorchester. 
The  particular  meeting  of  this  tour  that  stands  out  in 
my  memory  was  the  service  we  held 'at  Poole  in  the  after- 
noon of  Thursday,  when  Home  preached  on  "  What  is 
your  life  ?  "  The  audience  was  all  accommodated  in 
the  body  of  the  fine  old  church,  and  Home  spoke  from 


AN    ITINERANT   MINISTRY  259 

the  communion  rails.  Perhaps  he  did  not  so  much 
preach  as  speak  to  the  people.  I  mean  there  was  no 
rhetoric,  no  declaration,  no  dramatic  action.  It  was 
all  quiet  and  simple  and  still — but  so  searching.  From 
some  points  of  view,  I  never  knew  Home  greater  than 
on  that  day.  It  was  the  kind  of  message  which  one  never 
forgets.  In  1910  we  toured  Gloucestershire,  and  in  our 
choice  of  Gloucestershire  I  think  I  can  trace  once  again 
an  influence  of  Mr.  Frank  Tribe.  He  had  planned  a 
most  delectable  tour  for  us,  with  headquarters  at  the 
Amberley  Ridge  Hotel.  Now  anyone  who  knows  the 
Amberley  Ridge  knows  that  it  is  an  ideal  place,  for  not 
only  is  the  air  crisp  and  bracing,  but  the  famous  Minchin- 
hampton  links  are  at  the  very  door.  Mr.  Tribe  himself 
was  our  companion  all  the  week.  In  addition  to  Mr. 
Tribe,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  the  company  of  Mr.  Alfred 
Sargeant,  of  Hove,  who  put  his  great  Lanchester  car  at  our 
service.  We  really  made  up  a  perfect  quartette,  for  not 
only  did  Mr.  Tribe  and  Mr.  Sargeant  take  part  in  the 
meetings,  presiding  over  them  in  turns,  but  they  were 
both  keen  golfers.  The  games  we  had  on  those  Minchin- 
hampton  links  !  For  the  most  part  they  were  four- 
somes, the  two  ministers  against  the  two  laymen.  I 
don't  think  the  ministers  always  won — in  fact  I  am  quite 
sure  they  didn't.  But  I  have  a  picture  before  me  as  I 
write,  taken  on  those  links,  in  which  Home  is  caught 
executing  a  sort  of  war-dance,  and  it  is  entitled  "  The 
Church  Triumphant."  The  Gloucestershire  meetings 
were  excellent  meetings,  and  the  gratitude  was  lavish. 
But  again  one  memory  stands  out  sharp  and  distinct 
in  this  Gloucestershire  tour.  Amongst  other  places  we 
visited  was  Moreton-in-the-Marsh.  Now  Moreton  is  a 
great  place  for  Homes.  I  don't  know  whether  the  family 
really  originates  from  Moreton,  but  the  Home  clan  is 
well  represented  there.  We  knew,  therefore,  that  we 
were  in  for  a  great  welcome  from  the  cousins  and  the 
aunts.  We  passed  through  Cirencester  on  our  way,  and 


260  AN    ITINERANT   MINISTRY 

while  Home  was  in  a  shop  buying  something  for  himself, 
others  of  us  slipped  into  a  little  fancy  shop  and  bought 
all  the  tiny  flags  we  could  lay  our  hands  on.  Then,  when 
we  came  near  Moreton,  we  stopped  and  decorated  the 
car.  Then,  as  luck  would  have  it,  the  village  band  was 
parading  the  place  just  before  service  time,  and  hap- 
pened to  be  at  the  entrance  of  the  village  just  as  we 
arrived.  It  was  an  easy  matter  arranging  with  the 
conductor  to  turn  his  men  round,  to  play  a  certain  well- 
known  piece  of  music,  and  to  march  through  the  village 
to  the  tent  while  we  in  the  motor  followed  majestically 
behind.  And  so  it  came  about  that  in  a  decorated 
car,  behind  a  band  playing  "  See  the  conquering  hero 
comes,"  Home  made  his  triumphal  entry  into  Moreton- 
in-the-Marsh.  It  was  great  fun — and  yet  perhaps 
Moreton  never  welcomed  a  better  or  greater  man. 

Then  came  our  last  tour  together,  when  we  visited  the 
country  churches  of  Sussex.  This  was  Home's  own 
choice,  for  though  he  had  genius  (as  I  have  already 
hinted)  at  finding  all  sorts  of  connections  between  him- 
self and  the  various  counties  we  visited,  he  was  really 
Sussex  born.  Mr.  Sargeant  was  once  again  our  com- 
panion and  conductor.  We  made  Crowborough  our 
headquarters,  and  began  proceedings  there.  We  finished 
up  at  Chichester,  and  between  Crowborough  and 
Chichester  we  visited  Uckfield,  Battle,  Heathfield,  East 
Grinstead,  Haywards  Heath,  Horsham,  Arundel,  and 
Midhurst.  It  was  a  gorgeous  week.  The  weather  was 
perfect,  Sussex  was  at  its  loveliest,  and  the  company 
was  delightful.  I  got  to  sympathize  during  those  spring 
days  with  Hilaire  Belloc's  passion  for  Sussex.  But  after 
all,  we  were  out,  not  for  scenery,  but  for  the  help  and 
comfort  of  men  and  women  bearing  their  Christian  testi- 
mony, often  amid  great  discouragement.  To  use  a  phrase 
which  our  Anglican  friends  have  made  familiar — we  were 
out  on  a  "  mission  of  help."  And  I  do  not  think  we 
journeyed  in  vain.  By  sermons  and  addresses  and  talks 


AN   ITINERANT   MINISTRY  261 

across  the  tea-table  we  tried  to  breathe  fresh  courage 
and  hope  into  the  hearts  of  the  ministers  and  members 
of  our  little  churches.  If  gratitude  and  thanks,  pathetic 
almost  in  their  intensity,  are  any  proof  of  pleasure  and 
inspiration  given  them,  our  Sussex  tour  was  as  successful 
and  practically  useful  as  any  one  of  the  series.  But  alas ! 
although  we  did  not  know  it,  it  was  our  last.  In  1913 
Home  was  ill,  and  whatever  strength  he  had  was  needed 
for  the  unavoidable  duties  connected  with  his  chairman- 
ship of  the  Brotherhood  Movement.  In  1914,  while  he 
was  in  America  and  I  was  on  my  way  to  Australia,  he 
was  summoned  home.  There  has  been  no  visitation 
since  for  me.  But  I  look  back  upon  those  nine  or  ten 
tours  we  took  together  as  amongst  the  happiest  episodes 
of  my  life.  And  they  count  in  the  story  of  Home's 
life.  They  were  not  "  conspicuous  "  occasions.  But  I 
question  whether  anything  Home  did  was  better  worth 
doing.  For  it  was  not  a  fleeting  impression  he  made  : 
he  left  behind  him  an  abiding  inspiration.  When 
I  visit  these  little  churches  which  he  and  I  visited 
together,  one  and  another  will  say  to  me,  with  glistening 
eye,  "  Do  you  remember  when  Silvester  Home  and  you 
came  together  ?  "  Well,  I  am  not  likely  to  forget.  Nor 
are  they.  The  memory  of  his  words  abides.  At  every 
thought  of  him  their  hearts  warm.  In  many  a  village 
church  he,  being  dead,  yet  speaks. 


CHAPTER   IX 

CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

THE  story  told  in  these  pages  would  hardly  be  complete 
without  some  more  detailed  reference  to  certain  aspects 
of  Home's  life  and  work  which  his  almost  breathless 
activities  served  to  obscure  or  keep  in  the  background. 
To  outsiders  he  often  seemed  a  favoured  child  of  fortune. 
He  was  successful,  popular,  happy  in  hishome  and  family, 
and  had  hosts  of  friends.  He  had  a  bright  and  winning 
temperament,  and  in  public  speech  an  ease  and  freedom 
which  concealed  the  labour  spent  upon  it.  All  this 
however,  was  quite  compatible  with  a  very  real  self- 
sacrifice  such  as  his  work  in  the  ministry  involved.  A 
genuine  lover  of  the  country  and  of  all  country  ways, 
he  was  condemned  to  spend  most  of  his  life  in  London. 
Though  passionately  devoted  to  his  home,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  see  but  little  of  it,  and  except  in  holiday  times 
had  not  the  leisure  to  enjoy  it.  He  had  genuine  literary 
instincts  and  ambitions,  and  but  little  chance  of  grati- 
fying them.  Such  work  as  he  did  in  this  direction  had 
to  be  done  amid  a  thousand  distractions,  and  good  as 
it  often  is,  is  no  real  measure  of  his  powers.  He  was 
constantly  handicapped  by  ill-health,  and  during  the 
greater  part  of  his  public  life  often  laboured  under  grave 
physical  disadvantages.  But  he  toiled  on  boldly  and 
cheerfully,  always  hoping  for  a  time  when  the  tension 
might  be  relaxed  and  leisure  won  to  do  the  kind  of  work 
he  loved.  At  the  time  of  his  last  journey  to  America  he 
had  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  never  return  to 
the  ministry,  and  that  he  would  retire  from  Parliament 

262 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     263 

when  the  first  opportunity  offered.  His  hope  then  was 
to  devote  the  remainder  of  his  days  to  the  cause  of 
international  peace.  He  had  half-formed  plans  in  his 
mind  that  anticipated  what  we  have  now  come  to  know 
as  the  League  of  Nations,  and  of  that  scheme  he  would 
have  been  unquestionably  a  most  earnest  and  devoted 
advocate.  But  it  was  not  to  be. 

Of  his  published  sermons  it  may  safely  be  said  that 
they  give  little  indication  of  his  real  power  as  a  preacher. 
They  are  well  written,  simple,  and  forceful,  and  full  of 
insight  and  sympathy.  But  they  lack  the  glow  and  fire 
which  the  preacher  put  into  them.  Though  he  preached 
generally  from  manuscript,  Home  was  perfectly  free  in 
the  pulpit.  The  paper  served  to  guide  but  not  trammel 
him,  and  he  put  so  much  of  himself  into  his  sermons  that 
the  written  word  can  do  no  justice  to  his  power.  On 
the  platform  he  let  himself  go  more  completely,  and  in 
speeches  and  addresses  rose  to  rare  heights  of  passionate 
eloquence.  When  asked  why  he  did  not  speak  in  the 
pulpit  quite  as  freely  as  he  did  elsewhere,  he  used  to 
confess  to  feeling  the  restraint  and  solemnity  of  public 
worship  so  deeply  that  he  dare  not  let  himself  go.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  this  sense  of  reserve  and  even  awe  in  the 
pulpit  added  greatly  to  his  message. 

Sir  Robert  Wallace,  K.C.,  who  was  one  of  Home's 
most  regular  hearers  both  at  Kensington  and  Whitefields, 
writes  of  his  preaching  : — 

"  I  put  almost  first  his  extreme  fearlessness.  He 
never  hesitated  to  explore  any  new  realms  of  suggested 
truth.  He  was,  in  the  old  Elizabethan  sense,  a  great 
adventurer.  The  vast  unknown  spaces  did  not  trouble 
him.  He  delighted  to  go  on  his  quest  if  perchance  there 
was  anything  really  valuable  to  be  found.  He  had  firm 
faith  in  guidance  from  on  high.  Next  I  would  place  his 
great  reverence.  He  was  no  iconoclast,  as  many  thought. 
The  great  verities  ever  held  him  fast.  It  was  the  old 


264     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

gold  reminted,  the  old  Gospel  expressed  in  the  language 
of  to-day.  It  was  by  no  tricks  of  rhetoric  that  he 
captured  the  attention  of  his  audiences,  though  he  fully 
realized  how  important  form  is  as  well  as  substance. 
The  sincerity  of  the  man  was  so  apparent  that  you  felt 
that  here  was  someone  who  had  a  message.  There  are 
indeed  many  who  thank  God  for  the  privilege  of  having 
heard  him,  and  had  their  faith  renewed  under  his  won- 
derful influence." 

One  of  the  best  of  his  volumes  of  sermons  is  that  on 
the  Book  of  Job,  entitled  "  The  Ordeal  of  Faith."  It  is 
a  genuinely  pastoral  utterance,  positive  and  persuasive 
in  tone,  and  is  still  in  demand. 

Of  the  other  books  which  Home  published  in  addition 
to  the  volumes  of  sermons,  the  best  are  the  histories 
of  the  Free  Churches  and  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society ;  the  small  Life  of  David  Livingstone ;  and 
his  Yale  Lectures  on  The  Romance  of  Preaching. 
All  of  these  were  written  in  the  intervals  of  an  excep- 
tionally busy  life,  but  they  are  more  than  merely 
ephemeral  productions.  Home  put  into  them  a  great 
deal  of  conscientious  industry,  which  is  almost  concealed 
by  the  easy  and  graphic  style  in  which  they  are  written. 
The  Yale  Lectures,  in  particular,  were  most  carefully 
prepared,  and  are  certainly  worthy  of  a  high  place  in  the 
great  series  in  which  they  stand.  They  were  written 
from  the  heart  on  a  subject  which  the  writer  had  made 
his  own,  and  they  remain  a  lasting  vindication  of  the 
glory  and  greatness  of  the  preacher's  office. 

The  novel  A  Modern  Heretic,  which  was  written  early 
in  the  Kensington  ministry,  bears  all  the  marks  of  youth- 
ful authorship.  It  is  a  novel  with  a  purpose,  and  in  its 
delineation  of  the  difficulties  of  Dissent  in  country  places, 
it  recalls  experiences  with  which  the  writer  had  been 
only  too  painfully  familiar.  There  are  some  good  por- 
traits in  it,  and  some  shrewd  touches,  which  show  a  real 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    265 

acquaintance  with  human  nature.  It  is  just  the  work 
of  a  clever  and  keen  youth  who  has  a  real  message  to 
deliver,  but  is  not  yet  master  of  the  form  in  which  he 
has  chosen  to  cast  it.  A  far  nobler  and  more  convincing 
vindication  of  Free  Church  principles  and  activities  is 
to  be  found  in  the  two  histories  already  mentioned. 
Home  wrote  of  the  novel  as  follows  : — 

"  January  1894. — It  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  what 
impelled  me  to  write  a  novel.  For  a  year  or  two  I  have 
had  it  in  my  mind  that  if  a  novel  could  be  written  show- 
ing the  true  raison  d'etre  of  Dissent  and  its  justification, 
the  cause  of  Religious  Equality  would  be  served  well. 
Consequently,  one  day  I  began  the  thing  for  fun.  As 
I  went  on  I  got  thoroughly  interested,  and  chapter  on 
chapter  followed  ;  the  result  was  A  Modern  Heretic. 
The  design  of  the  novel  came  to  me  from  reading  Evan 
Harrington.  I  felt  that  Meredith  had  sought  out  the 
most  extreme  case  he  could  find  in  which  snobbery  could 
show  its  contempt  for  an  '  inferior '  grade  in  society, 
and  he  chose  tailordom  as  the  most  despised  grade. 
But  after  all  a  Nonconformist  minister  is  the  bete  noire 
of  the  cultivated  squirearchies  ;  and  I  consequently 
tried  to  represent  the  struggle  of  a  young  squire  who 
felt  a  call  to  be  a  Divine  Teacher,  and  yet  could  not 
honestly  subscribe  the  Articles.  Of  course  Dissent 
was  the  only  alternative.  Clarke's  have  got  the 
novel  now,  and  it  will  be  published  anonymously  in 
a  week  or  two ;  and  then  for  the  fun  of  the  fair  ! 
Whether  any  of  my  friends  will  recognize  the  handi- 
work I  don't  know.  Nobody  but  Katherine  knows  any- 
thing at  all  about  it." 

"  February  1894. — A  Modern  Heretic  is  out.  The 
first  two  reviews  are  in  my  hands.  Horton  reviews  it 
with  singular  kindness  in  the  Christian  World.  He 
speaks  most  about  its  humour,  and  certainly  praises  it 
far  beyond  my  utmost  expectations.  The  Glasgow  Herald 


266     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

pronounces  it  a  '  very  remarkable  and  distinguished 
book,'  but  is  angry  at  my  calling  it  frankly  '  a  novel 
with  a  purpose.'  The  Herald  says  I  have  done  for  the 
Oxford  of  1850  what  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward  did  for  the 
Oxford  of  a  later  date.  All  this  is  encouraging  for  the 
ultimate  success  of  the  book  :  but  I  quite  expect  its 
sale  will  be  slow.  Anonymous  books  rarely  get  at  once 
upon  the  market.  All  the  people  who  have  read  it 
seem  to  have  found  it  interesting  and  amusing.  I  only 
hope  it  may  really  do  good,  and  then  I  don't  much 
care  what  becomes  of  it." 


Reference  has  already  been  made  to  Home's  incur- 
sions into  the  realms  of  poetry.  As  a  young  man  he 
wrote  verse  with  boyish  exuberance,  and  later  in  life 
used  to  pour  out  clever  doggerel  for  the  delight  of  his 
children.  But  it  was  all  versification  rather  then  poetry, 
though  it  showed  his  easy  command  of  the  English 
language,  and  here  and  there  is  lit  up  with  something  of 
divine  fire.  One  hymn  of  his,  at  least,  will  last,  and  is 
already  much  used  at  commemorative  and  anniversary 
services.  Its  refrain  is,  "  For  the  might  of  Thine  arm  we 
bless  Thee,  our  God,  our  fathers'  God"  (No.  654  in  the 
new  Congregational  Hymnary).  The  following  poem 
may  be  quoted  as  characteristic.  It  was  published  in 
the  British  Weekly : — 


CROMWELL:    APRIL   25,    1599 
BY  C.  SH.VESTEB,  HOBNE 

To  the  memory  of  the  Great ! 

(And  a  grace  to  the  God  who  gave) 

To  the  uncrowned  King  of  the  English  State, 

Heaven-sent  her  soul  to  save 

From  the  minion  and  the  knave  ; 

And  a  broad,  safe  path  to  clear, 

Her  Great-heart  Guide,  with  sword  on  side, 

Meet  chief  for  days  austere. 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    267 

To  the  memory  of  the  Strong  ! 

(And  a  grace  to  the  God  he  knew) 

To  his  hate  divine  for  the  deed  that  was  wrong, 

And  his  love  for  the  speech  that  was  true. 

Fair  league  of  brain  and  thew, 

The  Hero  ripe  for  the  Hour, 

With  his  powder  dry  for  the  sceptred  lie, 

And  the  mitred  pride  of  power. 

To  the  memory  of  the  Brave  ! 

(And  a  grace  to  the  God  who  sent) 

To  the  hope  of  the  weak  that  arose  from  the  grave 

Where  the  Lord  Protector  went. 

For  the  bigot-crook  he  bent, 

And  the  tyrant-throne  he  brake  ; 

Till  trembling  stayed  their  brand  and  blade 

When  the  Lord  Protector  spake. 

To  the  memory  of  the  True  ! 

(And  a  grace  to  the  God  he  feared) 

To  the  faith  he  gave  where  the  gift  was  due, 

And  a  man's  plain  word  revered. 

Died  craft  when  he  appeared, 

In  the  clean,  pure  air  he  breathed. 

For  the  vow  fast  sworn  ere  the  sword  was  drawn 

Was  kept  ere  the  sword  was  sheathed. 

To  the  memory  of  the  Free  ! 

(And  a  grace  to  the  God  who  taught) 

To  the  right  to  see  what  a  soul  can  see 

In  the  viewless  realms  of  thought. 

And  the  Charter  of  Faith  blood-bought 

To  the  ever-broadening  Day  ; 

Mind  for  Light,  and  our  Manhood's  right 

To  think,  and  speak,  and  pray. 

To  the  memory  of  the  Good  ! 

(And  a  grace  to  the  God  who  made) 

Stand,  freemen  all,  as  this  free  man  stood 

To  play  the  part  he  played. 

Hearts  pure  and  unafraid, 

Faith  simple,  souls  unstained, 

Kept  strong  and  calm  by  the  prayer  and  the  psalm, 

To  guard  what  he  hath  gained. 

To  his  friends  Home  was  far  more  than  his  work. 
They  admired  his  powers  as  preacher  and  teacher,  but 


268     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

they  loved  him  for  himself.  He  was  the  most  loyal  and 
delightful  of  comrades,  always  the  same,  with  a  gay  and 
easy  friendliness  that  could  put  the  shyest  individual 
at  his  ease.  Among  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  at 
meetings  of  "  fraternals,"  his  presence  acted  like  a 
tonic.  His  busy  life  allowed  him  all  too  little  leisure 
for  social  intercourse  of  this  kind ;  but  he  made  the  most 
of  his  holidays,  and  many  of  his  friends  have  precious 
and  exhilarating  memories  of  days  on  the  golf-links 
and  nights  of  conference  and  laughter  at  Sheringham 
and  Church  Stretton.  He  had  a  wonderful  faculty  for 
combining  the  grave  and  gay,  and  would  pass  from 
solemn  discussions  on  some  theological  or  ecclesiastical 
point  to  almost  boisterous  jesting  without  any  sense 
of  incongruity.  There  was  a  rich  and  full  humanity 
about  him  which  delivered  him  from  any  taint  of  pro- 
fessionalism, and  his  religion  was  so  deep  and  sincere 
that  it  expressed  itself  naturally  in  his  whole  demeanour. 
Even  his  most  bitter  opponents  felt  the  charm  of  his 
rare  personality,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  confess  it.  "  No 
one,"  said  one  of  his  friends,  "  who  hits  so  hard  makes 
so  few  enemies."  The  following  account  of  Home's 
home  life  and  of  his  relations  with  his  children  is  contri- 
buted by  his  eldest  daughter,  Dorothy  : — 

"  Those  winning  qualities  which  made  my  Father 
so  deeply  loved  by  all  who  knew  him  found  their 
happiest  expression  in  his  home  life.  His  radiant  spirits, 
his  humour,  gentleness,  and  charm,  made  him  the  ideal 
companion  for  children  of  all  ages.  Not  only  his  own 
children,  but  many  others  to  whom  his  own  child-like 
spirit  was  always  enchanting,  remember  him  as  the  best 
of  playfellows  and  the  most  delightful  of  story-tellers. 
When  his  key  sounded  in  the  front  door  there  was  always 
a  stampede  in  the  nursery,  and  we  almost  fell  downstairs 
in  our  excitement  to  be  first  to  give  him  a  welcoming  hug. 
I  think  the  reason  why  children  adored  him  so  whole- 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     269 

heartedly  was  his  entire  absence  of  superiority  and  aloof- 
ness. Although  he  could  be  stern  when  there  was  any 
question  of  wrong-doing,  he  naturally  met  us  children 
as  a  friend  and  an  equal.  We  were  never  in  the  least 
afraid  of  him,  but  our  love  for  him  made  us  terribly 
afraid  of  doing  anything  which  would  make  him 
sorry. 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  happier  childhood 
than  ours.  Religious  teaching,  if  teaching  it  could  be 
called,  was  a  thing  of  joy.  Very  many  people  remember 
my  Father's  preaching  chiefly  for  the  beauty  of  his  ad- 
dresses to  children.  I  am  sure  that  he  devoted  as  much 
loving  care  to  those  as  he  did  to  his  '  grown-up '  sermons. 
He  knew  exactly  how  to  appeal  to  little  children,  and 
his  addresses  were  gems  of  simplicity  and  tenderness. 
He  did  not  believe  in  the  continual  '  Don't,'  which 
has  made  religion  seem  harsh  to  some  children.  We 
learnt  our  religion  in  positive  terms,  through  the  love 
of  nature,  the  love  of  each  other,  and  the  desire  for 
service  which  our  Father  and  Mother  taught  us. 
Sunday  was  always  a  favourite  day  with  us,  not 
only  because  Father  was  usually  at  home,  but  be- 
cause the  spirit  of  the  day  was  a  conspicuously 
glad  one. 

"  One  shining  reason  why  our  home  was  such  a  happy 
one  was  the  absolute  consistency  of  Father's  example. 
He  was  an  optimist  because  of  his  great  faith  in  human 
nature,  and  it  was  because  of  this  faith  that  not  one  of 
us  ever  heard  him  say  an  unjust  or  unkind  word  about 
any  person.  He  never  grumbled,  never  complained, 
and  never  spoke  sharply  to  anyone.  His  genius  for 
friendship  made  him  always  find  the  best  in  everyone, 
and  made  people  anxious  to  show  him  their  best.  His 
generosity  in  this  way  he  carried  almost  to  a  fault,  and 
he  would  very  often  put  himself  out  to  do  a  service  to 
someone  who  was  quite  unworthy  of  his  charity.  It  is 
little  wonder  that  our  nursery  days  were  wonderfully 


270     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

happy  ones.  I  remember  the  horror  with  which  I 
realized  the  difficulty  some  people  have  had  in  reconciling 
the  first  words  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  with  the  idea  of  a 
loving  God.  To  us  the  thought  of  God  as  a  Father 
meant  a  relationship  of  perfect  love  and  confidence, 
which  we  had  ourselves  experienced. 

"As  we  grew  older,  the  unquestioning  love  and  trust 
which  we  felt  for  Father  as  little  children  blossomed  into 
real  companionship.  This  companionship  was  just  as 
strong  when  we  were  apart  as  when  we  were  together. 
He  was  a  very  busy  man,  and  three  of  us  were  away  at 
boarding-school  after  the  age  of  14.  The  separation 
only  made  the  holidays  all  the  more  glorious.  Father 
loved  London,  and  he  was  heart  and  soul  in  his  work  ; 
but  he  always  longed  for  the  country  and  for  the  holi- 
days, and  was  full  of  plans  for  making  the  most  of  every 
moment.  His  passionate  love  of  nature  was  evident  to 
anyone  who  knew  him  even  slightly.  '  It  always  makes 
me  contented  with  life,'  he  wrote  to  me  at  school,  '  just 
to  shut  my  eyes  and  think  of  the  coming  springtime,  and 
the  flowers  and  the  lengthening  days,  and  all  the  wonder 
of  the  leaves.  You  are  lucky  to  be  in  the  country  and 
see  it  happen.  When  I  was  away  at  College  at  Glasgow 
I  used  to  come  home  in  April,  after  months  of  city  life, 
and  I  can  remember  as  well  as  anything  going  out  into 
the  fields  near  Newport  and  flinging  myself  down  on  the 
grass  and  crying  as  if  I  were  a  little  child  just  for  sheer 
joy  and  relief  !  Now  I  have  got  used  to  being  in  London, 
and  one  can  watch  the  leaves  and  flowers  come  out  here  ; 
but  I  still  feel  just  as  excited  over  it  all  as  when  I  was 
your  age.'  He  gave  himself  over  to  holiday-makin, 
with  tremendous  joy  and  zest.  In  all  our  excursions 
picnics,  and  games  he  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  party, 
and  just  as  full  of  excitement  as  any  of  us.  He  was  very 
fond  of  all  games,  and  played  golf,  cricket,  and  tennis 
enthusiastically.  He  played  hard,  but  no  bad  play  or 
bad  luck  ever  made  him  irritable,  and  he  was  always 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    271 

ready  to  spend  his  time  teaching  those  of  us  who  were 
only  beginners. 

'  We  had  three  bicycling  tours  during  the  last  summers 
of  his  life,  and  they  were  red-letter  days.  Each  tour 
took  about  a  week,  and  on  the  last  occasion,  in  1913, 
seven  cyclists  set  forth,  Father,  Mother,  and  five  of  us. 
We  planned  out  our  route  beforehand,  and  went  through 
Monmouthshire  and  down  the  Wye  valley ;  but  we  left 
the  question  of  accommodation  to  chance,  and  stopped 
at  any  inn  we  fancied  on  the  way.  These  were  great 
occasions.  We  were  all  in  rollicking  spirits,  and  we  felt 
that  time  and  speed  were  no  object.  Father's  interest 
in  everything  historical  made  the  trips  memorable,  for 
we  explored  all  the  border  country,  and  his  vivid 
descriptions  of  the  events  of  the  past  made  them  seem 
very  real. 

"  He  was  deeply  interested  in  other  countries  and 
peoples,  and  always  enjoyed  his  tours  abroad,  but  was 
happiest  when  some  of  his  family  were  with  him.  In 
1908  he  and  Mother  and  I  went  with  my  Grandfather  to 
France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy.  '  I  am  just  longing  for 
a  few  free  and  quiet  days,'  he  wrote  to  me  just  before ; 
'  and  oh,  when  we  get  away  to  the  Continent  I  think  I 
shall  just  have  as  good  a  time  as  you  will !  Won't  we 
go  about  together,  and  see  wonderful  sights,  and  rest 
our  tired  eyes  on  the  mountains  and  rivers  and  lakes  ! 
What  larks  !  Already  I  begin  to  dream  about  it  all, 
and  to  wonder  what  you  will  think  of  everything  you 
see.'  It  was  a  glorious  holiday  for  all  of  us,  and  for  a 
schoolgirl  who  had  never  been  abroad  before  Father  was  a 
wonderful  companion.  In  Venice  he,  too,  was  a  stranger, 
and  he  and  I  spent  long  mornings  with  Ruskin  in  St. 
Mark's  and  the  picture  galleries,  and  in  wandering  about 
the  shops  and  choosing  presents  for  all  at  home.  Often 
on  our  holidays  we  would  go  for  long  walks  together, 
and  in  the  talks  we  had  then  our  friendship  grew  closer. 
I  shall  always  remember  many  of  the  talks  I  had  with 


272     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

my  Father  when  I  was  at  a  very  impressionable  age. 
He  had  a  wonderful  gift  for  making  the  past  live,  and 
for  talking  so  simply  and  vividly  that  a  child  could 
appreciate.  He  would  tell  the  stories  of  English  History, 
especially  of  the  Elizabethan  and  Stuart  times,  and  most 
often  of  those  whom  he  called  '  your  Puritan  fore- 
fathers' ;  or  he  would  let  his  imagination  run  riot,  and 
together  we  would  invent  stories  about  the  country-side 
where  we  were  at  the  moment.  Sometimes  we  would 
make  up  absurd  poetry  or  discuss  the  plots  of  comic 
operas  ;  and  sometimes,  in  a  serious  mood,  he  would  talk 
of  the  Church,  of  politics,  our  future  plans,  and  his  hopes 
and  fears  in  his  own  work. 

"  Father  was  very  fond  of  writing,  and  as  with  every- 
thing he  possessed,  he  loved  to  share  his  ideas  with  others. 
One  summer,  when  we  were  in  Norfolk,  he  decided  that 
we  should  collaborate  in  a  novel.  It  was  to  be  an  his- 
torical romance  of  the  time  of  the  Dissolution  of  the 
Monasteries,  and  the  scene  was  to  be  laid  in  those  parts 
of  Norfolk  which  we  knew  best.  We  went  for  a  walk, 
and  discussed  the  plot  and  the  characters,  and  we  cycled 
to  Blickling  Hall  in  order  to  imagine  Anne  Boleyn  in  her 
proper  setting.  We  settled  to  write  alternate  chapters, 
and  I  laboriously  wrote  the  first,  which  I  then  took  to 
Father  for  his  approval.  He  started  on  the  second,  but, 
most  characteristically,  he  got  so  enthralled  with  the 
story  that  he  wrote  about  six  chapters  straight  off,  and 
then  came  and  explained  to  me  the  purpose  of  all  the 
characters  which  had  appeared  without  being  sanctioned 
by  the  original  plan  ! 

"  He  and  I  were  most  experienced  collaborators.  He 
gave  me  the  impression  that  my  contributions  were  most 
valuable,  and  was  always  ready  for  any  suggestions  ;  but 
all  that  was  really  skilful  or  amusing  came  from  him. 
Our  collaboration  was  principally  in  the  musical  plays 
we  produced  on  Christmas  Day.  Ever  since  we  were 
quite  tiny  children  Father  and  Mother  had  devised  some 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     273 

wonderful  surprise  for  us  on  Christmas  evening :  a 
fairy  grotto  in  which  the  presents  were  hidden  under  the 
custody  of  Father  as  Father  Christmas,  Aladdin's  cave, 
the  North  Pole,  or  something  else  which  could  be  made 
to  look  attractive  with  snow  and  greenery  and  fairy 
lights.  One  Christmas,  when  we  were  rather  older,  the 
eldest  being  about  14,  Father  wrote  a  little  play  for  us 
to  act.  The  characters  were  Queen  Elizabeth,  Nelson, 
a  Suffragette,  and  Father  Christmas  !  We  each  had  a 
song  to  a  well-known  tune,  and  a  certain  amount  of  blank 
verse.  In  the  next  play,  and  all  that  followed,  Father 
and  I  collaborated.  They  were  written  in  an  extremely 
short  time,  and  rehearsed  in  less,  but  we  enjoyed 
them  tremendously.  On  the  day  I  got  back  from 
school  for  the  Christmas  holidays,  Father  and  I 
would  shut  ourselves  up  in  his  study  and  evolve  a 
plot  and  libretto  and  choose  the  music.  We  usually  sat 
and  laughed  till  the  tears  rolled  down  our  cheeks  at  our 
own  absurdities.  Father  could  toss  off  really  amusing 
rhyming  verse  and  songs  to  a  particular  tune  with  the 
most  amazing  speed.  The  plays  gradually  got  more 
elaborate,  and  we  had  programmes  printed,  although 
the  audience  never  consisted  of  more  than  the  immediate 
household,  and  was  generally  outnumbered  by  the 
performers. 

"  How  Father  found  time  to  read  as  much  as  he  did 
it  is  hard  to  say,  but  he  was  an  omnivorous  reader,  and 
he  had  a  great  belief  in  the  power  for  good  of  the  best 
books,  fiction  as  well  as  other  literature.  In  the  even- 
ings he  would  very  often  read  aloud  to  us — most  often 
he  chose  Dickens,  Scott,  or  Browning  ;  but  Milton  and 
the  Puritan  poets  of  America  appealed  to  him  strongly. 
He  loved  poetry  above  everything,  as  all  knew  who  heard 
him  preach,  and  he  read  beautifully.  Browning  and 
Milton  he  would  have  put  first,  for  although  he  always 
delighted  in  beauty  of  expression,  he  gave  first  place  to 
poetry  with  a  moral  appeal  finely  stated.  The  same 
18 


274    CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

applied  to  the  theatre.  He  believed  intensely  in  the 
great  possibilities  of  the  drama,  and  was  most  anxious 
for  us  children  to  appreciate  what  was  best  on  the  stage, 
although  he  strongly  discouraged  indiscriminate  theatre- 
going.  I  remember  his  delight  in  The  Passing  of  the 
Third  Floor  Back,  and  in  Everywoman,  to  which  he 
took  me  ;  and  the  Gilbert  and  Sullivan  operas  were  a 
continual  joy  to  us  all.  We  knew  most  of  them  by 
heart,  and  often  had  musical  evenings,  when  we  would 
take  different  parts,  with  my  Mother  as  an  unwearying 
accompanist . 

"  When  we  were  away  from  home  Father's  com- 
panionship was  no  less  precious  to  us.  He  very  seldom 
failed  to  write  every  week,  and  his  letters  were  a  con- 
tinual inspiration.  If  ever  we  were  in  any  difficulty  or 
trouble  we  knew  we  had  his  unfailing  sympathy  and  help. 
'  In  all  your  fights,'  he  wrote  to  me,  '  whether  it  is  up  or 
down  at  the  moment,  my  sympathies  and  prayers  and 
love  are  always  with  you.'  His  letters  were  full  of  inter- 
est :  accounts  of  his  own  wanderings,  discussion  of  his 
work  at  Whitefields  and  of  events  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and,  more  than  all,  revealing  a  never-failing  desire 
to  enter  into  all  our  interests  and  to  guide  our  steps  in 
the  light  of  his  own  experience.  If  I  had  to  speak  at  a 
school  debate,  he  would  write  and  cheer  me  on  with  his 
own  clear  and  reasoned  views  on  the  subject.  If  it  was 
a  course  of  action  that  bothered  me,  he  would  send  wise 
and  cheerful  counsel,  without  for  a  moment  attempting 
to  hinder  free  judgment  and  action.  The  question  of 
how  we  were  going  to  use  our  lives  in  the  future  was 
constantly  in  his  thoughts.  The  following  passage 
from  a  letter  to  me  expresses  his  view  very  clearly : 
c.  .  .  you  may  find  several  competing  fields  of  service, 
and  then  you  will  be  able  to  exercise  a  free  choice,  un- 
trammelled by  any  hindrances  on  the  part  of  your  Mother 
or  myself.  You  know,  dear  lassie,  that  my  one  and  only 
desire  is  to  see  all  my  children  serving  God  and  humanity 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     275 

in  the  positions  where  they  can  be  of  greatest  influence. 
My  advice,  therefore,  is  to  you  to  keep  a  quite  open  mind, 
and  at  present  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set 
before  you.  Make  your  interests  as  wide  as  possible, 
but  dig  a  good  deep  central  channel  by  concentrating 
on  your  present  work.  I  have  great  confidence  that  the 
light  will  come  in  which  you  will  see  clearly.' 

"  He  loved  to  know  about  every  detail  of  school  and 
college  life,  and  he  shared  in  all  our  ups  and  downs, 
excitements,  successes,  and  disappointments.  When  I 
went  to  Oxford  he  was  especially  keen  to  know  every- 
thing, and  on  the  occasions  when  he  came  to  see  me 
we  talked  over  our  mutual  impressions,  his  work  and 
my  work,  our  plans  and  hopes.  '  I  am  beginning  to  count 
the  hours  to  my  Sunday  at  Oxford.  Keep  that  kettle 
bright.  I  yearn  to  see  it  shining  on  the  hob  !  We  must 
make  the  best  of  our  hours.  I  intend  to  have  a  really 
restful  day,  and  to  luxuriate  in  old  associations  and 
new  anticipations.' 

"  I  really  believe  that  Father  used  to  get  nearly  as 
excited  as  we  did  when  the  time  for  home-coming  arrived. 
'  We  are  all  getting  horribly  excited  about  Christmas, 
and  counting  the  days  to  your  return.  We  have,  of 
course,  planned  a  triumphal  arch  at  Ampthill  Square, 
and  engaged  the  Band  of  the  Royal  Horse  Guards  Blue, 
and  persuaded  the  Mayor  of  St.  Pancras  to  read  an 
address  to  you  as  you  alight  from  your  growler  at  this 
notorious  establishment.  Five  balloons  will  be  sent 
up,  and  I  propose  to  celebrate  the  occasion  by  a  first 
ascent  in  an  airship.'  Sometimes  he  would  break  forth 
into  verse  :  in  fact,  several  of  his  letters  to  the  younger 
members  of  the  family  were  in  verse.  The  following 
was  written  in  an  outburst  of  Christmas  spirits  ! 

I  saw  a  Father,  old  and  grey, 
Who  seemed  to  ache  in  every  bone ; 
His  hair  was  like  to  ancient  hay, 
He  spoke  in  quite  a  pulpit  tone. 


276     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

He  seemed  depressed,  he  seemed  forlorn, 
His  back  was  bent,  his  eyes  were  dim, 
His  very  clothes  looked  old  and  worn, 
Even  his  public  smile  was  grim. 

He  dragged  his  feet  about  the  house 
As  though  he  could  not  run  or  leap ; 
He  sometimes  whimpered  like  a  mouse, 
But  mostly  he  would  sit  and  weep. 

There  came  an  Angel  to  his  side 
With  gauzy,  feathery  wings  of  pink ; 
The  Angel  did  not  put  on  side, 
But  winked  a  sort  of  friendly  wink. 

A  wreath  of  holly  graced  his  brow, 
Two  mince-pies  (rampant)  were  his  crest ; 
And  as  he  made  his  courtly  bow, 
The  mistletoe  shone  at  his  breast. 

And  what  d'you  think  that  Angel  said 
That  made  the  old  man  laugh  and  grin, 
And  kick  his  heels  and  lift  his  head, 
And  dance  around,  and  bark  his  shin  ? 

The  Angel  gaily  twitched  his  ear, 
The  Angel  slapped  him  on  the  back, 
And  in  a  jolly  voice  and  clear 
Cried,  '  Dorothy  is  coming  BACK  ! ' 

"  One  of  the  most  striking  and  lovable  traits  in  my 
Father's  character  was  his  capacity  for  sharing  all  good 
things  with  his  friends.  In  special  measure  this  applied 
to  his  own  family.  He  never  saw  a  beautiful  sight, 
read  a  good  book,  or  experienced  a  new  pleasure  without 
wanting  to  pass  it  on  to  those  who  loved  him.  He  always 
longed  to  share  with  us  his  new  friends,  and  on  occasions 
when  he  was  meeting  someone  whose  friendship  he 
valued,  or  whose  personality  he  admired,  he  would  often 
take  a  small  son  or  daughter  with  him.  He  never 
really  felt  that  a  pleasure  was  undiluted  unless  one  of  us 
was  there  to  share  it  with  him.  In  the  great  moments 
of  his  life  we  were  never  forgotten.  On  the  first  polling 
day  at  Ipswich,  though  tired  and  harassed  with  claims 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     277 

on  every  side,  he  found  time  to  take  me  round  the  polling 
stations  with  him,  and  he  never  forgot  to  be  generous 
to  a  child's  intense  excitement.  At  the  time  of  the 
second  election,  in  December  1910,  I  was  at  school,  and 
bitterly  disappointed  not  to  be  at  Ipswich  ;  but  I  was 
not  forgotten,  and  in  all  the  bustle  and  excitement  of  the 
day  he  seized  a  moment  to  write.  '  We  are  in  the  midst 
of  this  eventful  polling  day.  As  I  write  to  you  those 
fateful  ballot-papers  are  dropping  into  the  boxes  all  over 
Ipswich,  and  no  man  knows  what  the  hours  will  bring 
forth.  .  .  .  There  is  short  time  now,  but  I  must  send 
this  to  carry  my  love  to  Oliver  and  you.  It  is  a  good 
fight,  the  best  in  the  world  ;  and  with  all  the  stupid 
mud-slinging  of  the  other  side  I  wouldn't  be  out  of  it 
for  a  fortune.'  And  again  on  his  first  day  in  the  House 
of  Commons  :  '  This  is  only  a  line  from  this  famous  place 
just  to  let  you  know  that  I  really  am  here,  and  have 
made  an  affirmation  of  unchanging  loyalty  to  King  and 
Constitution,  which  I  hope  means  the  People,  for  that 
is  what  I  care  for  !  ' 

"  His  friendship  with  all  his  children  was  no  one-sided 
affair.  He  not  only  shared  whole-heartedly  in  our 
interests  and  ideas,  but  he  opened  his  whole  heart  and 
brought  us  in  to  share  his  own  ideas  and  to  understand 
his  beliefs  and  the  plan  of  his  own  life.  Few  people 
have  had  so  many  and  so  varied  interests  and  enthusi- 
asms. One  of  the  last  talks  I  had  with  him  was  on  the 
blessing  of  a  life  which  was  full  and  varied.  He  dis- 
trusted over- specialization,  and  he  believed  that  by  culti- 
vating all  the  noble  things  of  life,  art,  music,  literature, 
history,  politics,  social  reform,  the  Christian  life  could 
best  be  sweetened  and  strengthened.  In  his  case  his 
joy  in  a  multitude  of  interests  and  activities  served  only 
to  bring  into  greater  prominence  his  overpowering  love 
of  God  and  man,  for  which  he  would  have  sacrificed 
them  all. 

"  The  shock  of  his  death  came  on  us  like  a  thunderbolt 


278     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

from  a  clear  sky.  We  could  only  find  comfort  in  the 
knowledge  that  our  relations  with  him  had  been  per- 
fect, and  that  his  presence  would  continue  to  fill  our 
home,  as  it  has  indeed  done.  I  cannot  better  conclude 
than  with  some  extracts  from  the  last  letter  he  wrote 
me  before  leaving  England  for  America  in  1914.  It 
expresses  better  than  any  words  of  mine  could  what  he 
felt  about  the  relation  of  Father  to  children. 

'  To  me  now  in  mid-life  it  seems  so  much  greater 
a  thing  that  Christ  should  judge,  criticize,  guide,  correct, 
and  control  me  than  that  I  should  worry  about  the  critical 
theories  which  do  not  touch  His  essential  authority  over 
my  life.  Perhaps  that  is  because  I  crave  more  and  more 
for  real  practical  help  ;  and  for  hewing  a  way  through 
the  serried  ranks  of  temptations  and  trials  there  is  no 
sword  like  His.  .  .  .  There  is  one  thing  I  do  want  to 
say  ever  so  much.  I  shall  be  horribly  jealous  if  any 
friend  of  yours  is  ever  a  more  intimate  friend  than  I 
am.  .  .  .  The  glory  of  my  own  Father  was  that  he  was 
not  only  my  Father  but  my  friend.  I  talked  everything 
over  with  him,  and  took  no  step  without  him  of  any 
consequence.  That  is  why  life  has  had  such  a  blank  space 
in  it  for  me  since  he  died.  I  know  that  I  have  been  so 
busy  here  and  there — too  busy  ! —  that  I  have  not  always 
seemed  to  you  children  the  friend  I  have  wanted  so  much 
to  be.  It  is  not  too  late  to  begin.  However  busy  and 
engrossed  I  may  be,  you  and  your  happiness  are  in- 
finitely more  to  me  than  any  other  affairs  can  be.  Dr. 
Dale  once  began  a  letter  to  me  in  these  words,  '  What- 
ever troubles  you  troubles  me.'  I  pass  it  on  to  you,  dear. 
Let  us  be  great  friends  and  allies.  It's  a  simple,  natural 
camaraderie  for  which  one  comes  to  yearn.  It  is  the 
solution  of  most  difficulties  and  almost  all  troubles. 
Most  of  us  suffer  quite  needless  inward  poverty,  and  even 
tragedy,  because  of  our  reticences  and  reserves ;  and  all 
the  while  we  might  open  our  hearts  and  get  the  very 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    279 

comfort  we  need.  Let  me  be  a  better  father  than  I  have 
been  by  becoming  a  closer  friend.  Let  us  be  as  thick 
as  thieves  ! ' 

'  The  blank  space  which  he  felt  for  his  own  Father  was 
left  for  us  when  he  died  two  months  after  writing  this 
letter.  Even  now  we  find  it  almost  impossible  to  speak  of 
him,  and  to  write  of  him  as  we  knew  him  is  also  impossible. 
We  have  a  sacred  and  unfading  memory,  and  we  are 
happy  in  the  knowledge  that  it  is  shared  with  us  by 
hundreds  of  others  who  loved  him  and  whom  he  loved." 

The  following  are  some  of  his  letters  to  his  children  :— 


To  one  of  his  Daughters 

"  February  23,  1914. 

"  Your  letter  gave  us  the  utmost  delight.  Do  you 
know  I  did  think  of  speaking  to  you  at  Christmas  about 
the  Church,  but  I  would  so  much  rather  that  the  desire 
came  from  you.  Your  letter  takes  me  back  thirty  years 
or  more,  to  the  day  when  your  Uncle  Fred  and  I  resolved 
to  take  the  first  step.  Things  were  perhaps  a  little 
more  formidable  in  those  days.  We  were  interviewed 
by  deacons  !  They  were  very  nice,  however,  and  made 
everything  quite  simple. 

"  Now  let  me  put  one  or  two  points  down  for  you, 
dear : — 

"  (1)  The  only  thing  that  really  matters  is  that  we 
give  ourselves  to  Christ,  to  live,  to  work,  think,  and  dare 
for  Him.  That  is  everything.  You  remember  the 
passage  in  Matthew  where  Christ  asks  His  disciples  who 
they  think  He  is,  and  Peter  says,  '  Thou  art  the  Christ— 
the  anointed  one — the  King  and  the  Son  of  the  Living 
God ' ;  and  Jesus  said  in  effect, '  Yes,  that's  it !  On  that 
confession  I  will  build  My  Church.'  Anyone  who  accepts 


280     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

Christ  as  King  and  Saviour  ought  to  become  a  member 
of  His  Church. 

"  (2)  We  Congregationalists  ask  nothing  else.  We 
lay  stress  on  no  rites  and  ceremonies.  We  believe  all 
true  Christians  are  of  equal  value  in  His  sight,  and 
therefore  our  system  is  democratic.  We  were  the  first 
real  democrats  in  the  world.  We  choose  our  own  minis- 
ters, pay  our  own  way,  and  are  free  to  have  any  kind 
of  service  or  worship  we  prefer.  Also  we  regard  all 
other  Christians  as  our  brethren,  though  many  of  them 
will  not  recognize  us  as  real  Christians  at  all.  The 
failure  in  brotherliness  must  never  be  on  our  side. 

"  (3)  As  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  believe  it  is  best  to 
have  the  very  simplest  form  of  it.  We  hold  no  super- 
stitious view  of  the  bread  and  wine,  but  regard  it  as  a 
covenant  service  in  which  we  realize  Our  Master's 
presence  and  consecrate  ourselves  to  His  service  and 
Kingdom. 

"  I  will  send  you  a  little  book,  of  which  I  was  joint 
author,  which  puts  all  this  quite  plainly.  Also,  if  you 
have  time,  read  some  of  the  first  part  of  my  Free  Church 
History,  which  tells  how  we  came  to  be.  But  the  great 
thing  is  that  we  should  be  as  close  to  the  New  Testament 
model  as  possible." 

"  April  14,  1914. 

How  wonderful  it  is  to  think  that  you  are  really 
seventeen,  and  that  you  are  getting  to  the  end  of 
school  life  and  launching  out  on  to  the  wide,  wide  sea ! 
Here  we  are  3,000  miles  away,  crying,  Ave  atque  vale. 
Last  night  I  was  lecturing  at  Whitefields  on  Abraham 
Lincoln.  The  Toplady  Hall  was  crowded.  You  must 
read  all  about  Lincoln.  I  put  him  second  among  my 
heroes,  and  just  as  Cromwell  was  '  the  greatest  because 
the  most  typical  Englishman  of  all  time,'  so  Lincoln 
was  the  greatest  because  the  most  typical  American. 
The  more  I  read  his  speeches  the  more  they  grow  upon 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    281 

me,  and  no  romance  is  more  thrilling  than  how  he  came 
out  of  grinding  poverty  and  became  the  uncrowned  king 
of  America.  His  wit,  his  common-sense,  his  generous 
soul  made  him  an  ideal  hero  for  the  democracy.  ..." 


"  November  14,  1908. 

".  .  .  I  am  travelling  north  from  Euston  to  Man- 
chester, where  I  am  to  preach  to-morrow,  and  I 
have  just  remembered  that  my  letter  to  you  is  due; 
so  here  is  some  railway  note-paper,  and  we  can  have 
a  chat  while  the  train  does  its  sixty  miles  an  hour. 
I  have  been  so  busy  lately  that  it  has  been  almost  im- 
possible to  squeeze  out  time  to  write  to  anybody.  First 
of  all,  there  was  an  article  on  John  Calvin  waiting  to  be 
written  for  a  book  of  essays,  and  it  was  promised  for  this 
morning.  So  for  most  of  the  week  I  lived  in  Geneva  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  thought  of  Montreux,  and  the 
Bernese  Oberland,  and  old  John  Calvin,  who  made  Geneva 
a  city  of  refuge  for  all  the  persecuted  Protestants  of 
Europe.  Well,  the  essay  got  itself  written  somehow, 
and  was  duly  sent  off.  But  in  the  middle  of  it  the 
Minister  for  Education,  Mr.  Runciman,  sent  for  me,  and 
all  Tuesday  I  was  at  work  trying  to  patch  up  a  peace  in 
Education  so  that  there  should  be  no  more  passive 
resistance,  and  the  nation  should  manage  the  schools  it 
pays  for.  We  shall  very  likely  not  succeed,  and  my  time 
will  have  been  wasted,  but  one  must  do  what  one  can  to 
bring  an  end  to  all  this  strife  ;  and  I  really  do  think  that 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  wants  to  be  fair  this  time. 
Then  there  have  been  lots  of  meetings,  and  speeches  to 
be  made  on  all  sorts  of  subjects,  and  that  meant  time, 
too ;  so  that  now  you  know  why  you  haven't  got  a 
letter  before  this. 

"  I  did  not  tell  you  about  the  opening  of  the  Rylands 
Hall,  and  how  Mother  made  a  very  neat  speech,  which 


282     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

was  quite  the  speech  of  the  day.  We  had  a  great  time, 
and  enjoyed  everything  hugely.  The  Hall  is  ever  such 
a  success,  and  you  must  see  it  when  you  come  home  at 
Christmas.  We  like  your  long,  interesting  letters  im- 
mensely, and  rejoice  to  think  what  a  good  time  you  have 
at  school.  What  clever  people  you  ought  to  be,  for 
when  I  was  at  school  we  did  not  learn  half  the  jolly 
things  you  do.  Just  now  we  are  all  John  Milton  mad  ! 
I  have  been  lecturing  and  speaking  about  him,  and  am 
arranging  a  great  Mass  Meeting  on  the  subject  for 
December  6.  The  9th  is  the  great  day,  for  he  was  born 
on  December  9,  300  years  ago.  ..." 


"  January  25,  1908. 

".  .  .  I  am  very  glad  you  are  going  to  try  to 
understand  Free  Trade.  Free  Trade  means  that  we 
want  to  have  in  this  country  the  best  of  everything, 
no  matter  in  what  part  of  the  world  it  is  made  or 
grown.  We  invite  all  the  world  to  send  quite  freely 
to  us  their  best  goods  so  that  we  may  have  the  benefit 
of  them.  Suppose,  for  instance,  you  want  one  of  those 
dear  little  Geneva  watches,  you  can  get  it  in  London 
almost  as  cheaply  as  you  can  get  it  in  Geneva.  But  in 
many  countries  you  could  not  get  it  at  all,  because  these 
countries  say  to  the  Swiss  watchmakers,  '  If  you  send 
watches  here,  you  will  have  to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money 
as  a  tax  on  each  watch  you  send  ' ;  and  that  means  that 
they  cannot  afford  to  send  them.  Now  we  believe  that 
the  people  need  the  best  of  food  from  all  quarters  of  the 
world  ;  so  we  let  it  all  come  in  quite  freely  to  feed  our 
poor  people.  That  is  why  quite  poor  folk  can  afford 
oranges  and  bananas  and  tinned  fruits  and  cocoa-nuts  ; 
and  that  is  why  bread  is  so  cheap  here  while  it  is  so  dear 
in  Germany.  We  get  wheat  from  America  and  Canada 
and  Russia  and  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  as  we  do 
not  put  a  tax  on  it,  the  price  is  always  low,  and  good  food 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     283 

is  plentiful.  There  are  lots  of  old  people  in  the  country 
who  remember  when  bread  was  dear  for  poor  people  to 
eat,  and  they  had  to  eat  potatoes  and  cabbages  and 
turnips,  and  hardly  ever  tasted  bread.  That  was  because 
we  put  such  a  tax  on  foreign  corn  that  the  price  was 
very  high  indeed. 

**  You  can  see  why  this  must  be  so  if  you  try.  Suppose 
that  in  Harpenden  there  is  a  large  Market  Hall  where 
the  country  women  come  and  sell  eggs  and  butter.  Now 
perhaps  the  people  who  own  the  Market  Hall  say  to  the 
country  women,  '  If  you  want  to  sell  your  eggs  in  this 
building  you  must  pay  us  a  penny  on  every  egg  you  sell.' 
What  does  she  do  ?  When  she  sells  her  egg  she  charges 
that  extra  penny  for  it  so  that  she  shall  not  be  out  of 
pocket.  If  the  egg  itself  is  worth  a  penny,  and  she  has 
to  pay  a  penny  to  the  Market  Company  for  the  right  to 
sell  it,  she  will  charge  the  person  who  buys  it  twopence. 
So  that  the  person  who  wants  an  egg  to  eat  has  to  pay 
not  only  the  proper  price  of  the  egg,  but  the  tax  levied 
by  the  Market  Company.  That  is  what  you  must  try 
to  say.  The  person  who  really  pays  that  tax  is  the 
person  who  needs  the  egg  and  buys  it.  In  political 
economy  we  call  that  person  the  consumer.  We  Free 
Traders  argue  that  the  consumer  always  pays  the  tax. 
Free  Trade  means  cheap  food,  and  Protection  means 
dear  food ;  and  the  people  in  the  country,  and  not  the 
foreigners,  pay  the  tax  in  the  long  run.  To  talk  about 
taxing  the  foreigner  simply  means  taxing  yourself, 
because  you  have  to  pay  more  for  what  the  foreigner 
sends.  ,  ." 


"  IPSWICH, 

"  December  3,  1910. 

"  We  are  in  the  midst  of  this  eventful  polling-day. 
As  I  write  to  you  those  fateful  ballot-papers  are  dropping 


284     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

into  the  boxes  all  over  Ipswich,  and  no  man  knows  what 
the  hours  will  bring. 

"  Bridget,  Joan,  and  Ronald  are  here.  Ronald  is 
hugely  delighted  and  excited,  and  carries  his  Teddy 
Bear  everywhere  with  conscious  pride.  This  morning 
your  Mother,  Lady  Goddard,  and  I  have  been  all  round 
the  place,  and  have  had  tremendous  receptions.  Every- 
body seems  to  think  the  town  is  much  more  yellow  than 
it  was  in  January,  and  the  workers  are  confident ;  but 
we  want  every  vote. 

"  Last  night  Lloyd  George  was  here.  It  rained  in 
torrents,  but  we  had  the  greatest  political  meetings  in 
the  history  of  the  town.  You  will  see  the  full  reports. 
Lloyd  George  was  immensely  delighted,  and  he  had  such 
ovations  as  only  a  great  hero  would  ever  receive. 

"  There  is  short  time  now,  but  I  must  send  this  to  carry 
my  love  to  Oliver  and  you.  It  is  a  good  fight,  the  best 
in  the  world  ;  and  with  all  the  mud- slinging  of  the  other 
side  I  wouldn't  be  out  of  it  for  a  fortune.  .  .  ." 

"  January  6,  1911. 

"  I  have  told  Mr.  C.  to  post  you  the  two  books  from 
Whitefields,  and  I  hope  you  will  get  them  to-morrow. 
You  must  let  me  know  if  any  questions  in  your  mind 
remain  unanswered ;  and  mark  any  passages  in  the 
books  that  are  not  clear  to  you.  I  can  never  forget  the 
time  when  I  joined  the  Church  just  before  going  to 
College.  It  seemed  to  me  then,  and  it  seems  still,  the 
greatest  and  most  significant  act  of  life — the  choosing 
of  the  '  side  '  for  which  one  was  very  definitely  to  strive 
all  through  life,  and  putting  on  the  colours. 

"  Coming  up  in  the  train  I  was  haunted  by  the  fear 
that  what  I  said  to  you  might  seem  to  emphasize  the 
points  of  difference  between  one  branch  of  the  Church 
and  another  rather  than  the  great  point  of  membership 
of  the  great  indivisible  Church  and  Kingdom.  I  did 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    285 

not  mean  to  do  that.  When  you  join  the  Church, 
wherever  it  may  be  and  under  whatever  form,  you  will 
avow  yourself  a  member  of  Christ's  historic  universal 
Church,  as  one  of  His  true  disciples.  We  can  confi- 
dently claim  that  all  that  is  of  His  inspiring  in  history 
belongs  to  us,  even  as  His  Presence  and  Power  are  with 
us  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  age.  .  .  ." 

"January  27,  1911. 

.  .  Your  Mother  and  I  are  going  to  Ipswich  to-day 
to  have  a  real  good  rejoicing  over  the  triumph.  The 
meeting  is  arranged  by  the  women,  and  your  Mother  is 
to  take  the  chair  !  I  expect  there  will  be  quite  1,500 
people  present,  and  we  shall  have  a  glorious  time.  It 
would  be  perfect  if  you  and  Oliver  could  come  too.  .  .  ." 


"  THE  WHITE  HOUSE,  CHUBCH  STRETTON, 

"  October  15,  1913. 

"  I  am  writing  this  in  blazing  sunshine,  and  the  hills 
are  bathed  in  it  too.  The  bracken  and  bilberries  have 
coloured  them  almost  as  the  heather  does.  It  is  the 
glorious  end  of  a  glorious  summer.  I  have  just  got  back 
from  staying  in  great  pomp  and  glory  at  the  Bishop's 
palace  at  Lincoln.  He  is  a  nice  sort  of  man,  but  I  felt 
no  envy  for  him,  and  was  glad  my  own  lot  in  life, 
was  a  simple  one. 

"  Your  last  letter  interested  me  very  deeply,  as  you 
may  imagine.  I  am  old-fashioned  in  my  belief  in  the 
Will  and  in  predestination.  We  want  just  that  sense 
of  '  destiny  '  which  is  sometimes  so  difficult  to  realize. 
But  when  it  comes,  it  is  the  secret  of  peace  and  satis- 
faction. You  have  two  years  before  you  yet,  and  they 
should  be  splendid  years,  full  of  growing  power  and  con- 
sciousness of  development.  Things  may — I  do  not  say 
they  will — look  very  different  to  you  as  the  time  comes 


286     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

for  you  to  embrace  some  life-career.  It  is  more  than 
likely  that  with  the  very  real  gifts  God  has  given  you, 
you  may  find  several  competing  fields  of  service ;  and 
then  you  will  be  able  to  exercise  a  free  choice,  untram- 
melled by  any  hindrances  on  the  part  of  your  Mother 
or  myself.  You  know,  dear  lassie,  that  my  one  and  only 
desire  is  to  see  all  my  children  serving  God  and  humanity 
in  the  positions  where  they  can  be  of  greatest  influence1. 
My  advice,  therefore,  is  to  you  to  keep  a  quite  open  mind, 
and  at  present  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set 
before  you.  Make  your  interests  as  wide  as  possible, 
but  dig  a  good  deep  central  channel  by  concentrating 
on  your  present  work.  I  have  great  confidence  that  the 
light  will  come  in  which  you  will  see  light  clearly.  ..." 


"  November  13,  1913. 

"  If  I  were  arguing  the  question  I  should  concentrate 
on  two  main  points  : — 

"  (1)  The  unique  character  of  land.  Its  limited 
quantity  makes  it  easy  to  establish  a  monopoly.  A 
rich  stranger  buys  an  estate,  and  buys  the  homes  and 
livelihoods  of  scores  and  hundreds  of  people.  He  can 
clear  them  all  out  :  it  has  frequently  been  done.  If 
men  do  not  vote  as  he  pleases  he  can  turn  them  out  of 
their  cottages,  and  they  have  to  go  outside  his  estate  ; 
and  a  working  understanding  between  a  few  Tory  land- 
lords means  the  mastery  of  a  whole  county.  If  you 
were  dealing  with  any  other  necessity  of  life,  the  policy 
of  Free  Trade  would  make  monopoly  impossible.  But 
land  demands  special  treatment. 

"  (2)  The  labourer  is  more  unfortunately  situated 
than  any  other  workman.  Often  wages  can  be  improved 
by  Trade  Union  action.  But  that  is  where  hundreds 
or  thousands  of  men  meet  at  the  same  factory.  The 
labourers  are  so  sparsely  scattered  over  large  districts 
that  they  cannot  combine  effectively.  They  know  little 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS     287 

or  nothing  of  one  another,  and  are  conscious  of  their  help- 
lessness. The  State  ought  to  see  justice  done  to  them. 
"  In  Ireland  it  will  hardly  be  disputed  that  State 
interference  has  been  invaluable.  But  in  new  countries 
like  New  Zealand  they  have  a  progressive  land-tax. 
The  more  land  a  man  owns  the  heavier  his  tax,  until 
after  a  moderate  amount  the  tax  becomes  practically 
prohibitive,  and  land  thus  cannot  be  monopolized  by 
a  few.  .  .  ." 

"  CHURCH  STBETTON, 

"  February  1,  1914. 

'  What  a  vigorous  and  merry  life  you  seem  to  be 
leading  !   Prosis  I  " 

"  April  19,  1914. 

"  We  have  just  got  a  splendid  '  mail ' — as  they  call 
it  here — including  letters  from  you  all,  and  news  of  the 
tragic,  ever-to-be-lamented  decease  of  the  little  white 
pigeon.  We  wept  four  dewy  drops  of  salt  American 
tears.  We  have  almost  forgotten  our  unpleasant  ex- 
perience on  the  Atlantic,  and  are  travelling  around  among 
the  most  delightful  people,  who  are  feting  us  and  feasting 
us  to  our  hearts'  content.  Their  houses  are  lovely,  their 
motors  adorable,  and  their  meals  epics  !  At  Washington 
we  did  many  interesting  things.  I  saw  the  President, 
and  had  a  very  delightful  talk  with  him.  Then  I  had 
lunch  with  five  members  of  the  Cabinet,  including  Mr. 
Bryan.  I  was  admitted  to  take  a  seat  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  in  great  pomp  and  glory.  The  public  buildings 
at  Washington  are  in  white  marble,  and  more  gorgeous 
than  can  be  found  in  any  other  city  of  the  world.  We 
came  on  here  on  Friday,  and  motored  out  from  Phila- 
delphia a  few  miles  to  this  place  (Haverford,  Pa.)  through 
the  most  splendid  park  by  the  side  of  the  Delaware 
River.  On  Friday  night  I  spoke  to  lots  of  people  at 


288     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

Haverford  College  on  Home  Rule  for  Ireland.  Then 
yesterday  we  went  a  very  long  motor  drive,  some  eighty 
miles  through  Pennsylvania.  We  saw  where  George 
Washington  had  his  camp  at  Valley  Foya.  Then  we 
went  out  to  a  very  wild  district  till  we  came  to  a 
delightful  farm-house  run  by  the  Quakers  as  a  boarding- 
house.  There  we  had  lunch,  and  then  went  on  over  the 
worst  roads  man  ever  saw,  with  ruts  so  deep  that  it  would 
not  have  surprised  me  to  look  down  into  them  and  see 
England  on  the  other  side  of  the  world.  However,  I 
did  not  see  you  because  I  could  not  stop  to  look  down, 
as  I  was  made  to  bound  upwards  to  the  stars,  and 
injured  my  best  hat  by  hitting  it  against  Mars  (Mam- 
mars) — joke !  Last  night  we  had  a  swell  dinner  here, 
and  to-day  I  preached  in  Bryn  Mawr  church,  so  called 
because  this  was  originally  a  Welsh  settlement.  To- 
morrow we  travel  on  to  Yale,  and  my  lectures  begin. 
Or  a  pro  nobis." 

Of  her  husband  and  his  work,  Mrs.  Home  writes  as 
follows  : 

"It  is  impossible  to  write  in  a  detached  way  of  one 
with  whom  one  lived  in  the  closest  of  intimacy  for  so 
many  years,  or  to  express  in  any  way  the  wonderful 
qualities  which  made  him  the  ideal  husband  and  father. 
In  absolute  unselfishness,  an  impartiality  of  judgment 
and  the  most  serene  of  tempers,  an  incorrigible  youthful- 
ness  and  gaiety  of  spirit,  a  love  of  home  which  cost  him 
more  personal  sacrifice  than  anything  else,  and  above 
all  intensely  strong  affections — all  these  counted  more 
in  his  life  than  any  of  the  qualities  which  made  him 
loved  and  admired  by  the  world  outside. 

"  My  husband  was  a  bad  correspondent.  He  hated 
writing  letters,  and  never  did  so  unless  obliged.  The 
one  exception  he  made  was  to  his  family.  He  and  I 
always  wrote  to  each  other  every  day  when  absent,  all 


CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS    289 

the  twenty-two  years  of  our  married  life,  and  he  often 
wrote  to  the  children — letters  full  of  fun,  and  sometimes 
illustrated.  Sister  Esther — the  most  devoted  worker 
at  Whitefields — does  not  possess  a  letter  of  his.  Others 
who  pestered  him  with  unnecessary  correspondence 
had  occasionally  to  be  dealt  with.  He  thoroughly 
approved  of  the  view  that  letters  answer  themselves 
in  time — but  applications  had  to  be  tackled  by  his 
colleagues.  Of  all  those  who  helped  him  in  this  way, 
Mr.  Holmes  was  facile  princeps  as  regards  saving  his 
time  and  strength.  No  bore  or  impostor  could  long 
escape  his  eagle  eye,  and  he  guarded  the  study  with 
wonderful  efficiency,  and  never  minded  the  risk  of 
making  enemies  if  he  could  save  him  in  any  way. 

"  My  husband  always  said  that  there  was  only  one 
woman  that  he  understood,  and  that  was  his  wife. 
Women  were  mysteries  to  him,  and  he  always  felt  that 
his  message  was  specially  to  men.  Of  the  empty- 
headed,  purely  society  woman  he  had  a  horror.  One 
woman  vowed  that  she  could  get  any  man  to  flirt  with 
her,  and  said  she  should  try  her  hand  on  him.  She 
wrote  to  ask  for  an  interview,  which  was  arranged,  and 
confessed  afterwards  that  she  had  been  beaten  for  the 
first  time  in  her  life.  He  felt  that  men — and  women— 
who  did  not  attend  church  services  were  frequently 
more  Christian  than  those  who  did.  There  was  no  one 
who  cared  less  for  form  and  conventionality.  He 
welcomed  Congregationalism  not  only  for  its  principles, 
but  for  its  freedom  of  thought  and  action.  It  was  a  great 
blow  to  him  when,  at  the  end  of  his  years  at  Whitefields, 
certain  members  of  the  council  felt  that  the  subjects  in 
the  Men's  Meetings  must  be  circumscribed,  and  more 
definitely  '  religious  '  topics  dealt  with.  He  said  that 
he  felt  his  work  to  have  been  in  vain  if  he  could  not 
make  people  see  that  every  subject  could  be  treated 
from  a  Christian  standpoint.  I  told  him— what  he 
must  have  known— that  these  were  only  the  views  of  a 
19 


290     CHARACTERISTICS    AND    INTERESTS 

handful :  the  members  of  the  Men's  Meeting  were 
absolutely  in  accord  with  his  views ;  but  I  felt  that 
this  was  what  definitely  settled  his  future  plans.  He 
always  discussed  freely  every  phase  of  his  work.  He 
would  come  back  and  tell  me  that  he  had  been  preaching 
a  sermon  that  he  knew  I  should  like — my  taste  was 
supposed  to  be  somewhat  more  critical  than  many 
people's — and  he  liked  me  to  tell  him  exactly  what  I 
thought.  Those  days  cannot  return,  and  it  makes  all 
who  knew  and  loved  him  feel  that  other  services  can 
never  be  like  his.  He  always  said  that  he  was  a  High 
Churchman,  and  felt  that  there  was  a  special  meaning 
in  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  that  Noncon- 
formists often  missed.  He  sent  his  children  to  St. 
George's  School,  Harpenden,  where  the  headmaster 
is  a  clergyman  and  the  service  of  an  Anglican  type. 
His  sympathies  were  broad,  and  he  could  appreciate 
the  beauties  of  ritual  as  well  as  of  the — ideally  conducted 
— simpler  forms  of  worship.  There  was  no  littleness 
in  him,  and  he  wished  his  children  to  mix  freely  with 
those  of  differing  faiths,  and  to  appreciate  the  best  in 
each. 

"  No  description  of  him  could  be  complete  without 
referring  to  his  keen  sense  of  humour.  This  is  what 
made  him  so  essentially  human  and  non-parsonic  to 
the  average  man.  Yet  he  never  lost  his  dignity.  He 
suffered  fools  gladly — he  was  far  too  patient  with 
intruders,  and  seldom  could  bring  himself  to  say  no  to 
requests.  Had  he  been  less  self-sacrificing,  his  own 
life  might  have  been  spared.  It  was  in  a  real  sense 
true  that  he  laid  down  his  life  for  others — and  there 
were  no  words  more  fitting  to  put  on  his  grave." 


CHAPTER  X 

CLOSING   YEARS 

IN  the  summer  of  1911  Home  paid  another  flying  visit 
to  America  on  a  preaching  and  lecturing  tour.  He 
spoke  at  Chatauqua  and  at  the  Lake  Winona  conference 
for  students  and  teachers.  The  trip  served  as  a  holiday, 
of  which  he  stood  greatly  in  need.  The  excitement  of 
politics  and  the  late  hours  of  Parliament  had  begun  to 
tell  on  him,  and  he  welcomed  the  voyage  particularly 
as  an  opportunity  of  making  up  arrears  of  sleep.  He 
wrote  to  his  eldest  daughter  : — 

"  NIAGARA  FALLS, 

"  August  27,  1911. 

"  I  am  writing  you  a  birthday  letter  from  one  of  the 
famous  places  of  the  world.  If  only  the  railways  and 
the  steamships  do  their  duty,  this  letter  ought  to  post 
over  land  and  sea  and  get  to  you  somewhere  about  your 
birthday ;  but  I  fear  it  will  be  a  little  late.  It  was  raining 
in  torrents  when  I  got  to  Niagara.  The  whole  valley 
was  full  of  rain  and  mist,  so  that  you  could  hardly  see 
anything.  I  went  straight  down  from  the  hotel  to  the 
river,  and  stood  by  the  brink  and  watched  the  rapids 
swirling  and  leaping  along.  There  was  not  a  gleam  of 
sunshine,  and  it  seemed  to  me  to-day,  as  before,  rather  a 
terrible  place.  From  the  top  where  I  was  you  cannot 
see  the  fall.  You  simply  see  where  the  river  ends — just 
a  straight  line,  and  a  column  of  white  steam  rising  up. 
Beyond,  you  see  the  wooded  cliffs  of  the  great  gorge, 
and  you  hear  the  sound  of  many  waters,  the  hoarse  roar 
of  the  tumbling  billows.  I  came  here  from  Buffalo, 

291 


292  CLOSING    YEARS 

down  the  Niagara  river  as  it  were,  and  it  is  wonderful 
how  calm  the  river  is  till  you  get  quite  near  the  falls. 
The  little  ferry-boats  ply  across,  and  all  seems  so  tranquil 
and  free  from  danger.  Then  suddenly  the  high  land 
begins  to  slip  away,  and  the  river  goes  downstairs,  in 
leaps,  until  at  last  it  just  plunges  over  the  precipice 
into  space.  After  dinner  I  walked  across  the  suspension 
bridge,  and  the  American  Falls  looked  like  a  white 
glimmering  ghost,  so  weird  and  eerie.  To-morrow  I 
hope  there  will  be  some  colour  in  the  water,  and  then 
I  shall  see  it  as  it  was  sixteen  years  ago. 

"  I  came  here  from  Chatauqua,  and  one  day  I  must 
bring  you  to  Chatauqua,  for  it  seems  to  me  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  unique  places  I  have  ever  seen.  It 
is  on  a  beautiful  lake  and  in  the  midst  of  groves  and 
woods,  and  is  wholly  given  over  to  a  great  summer  school. 
There  are  Greek  Temples  for  Music,  Art,  and  Religion, 
a  magnificent  auditorium  open  at  the  sides  and  fringed 
with  lovely  trees,  and  holding  5,000  people.  There  are 
schools,  colleges,  gymnasia — everything  you  can  con- 
ceive ;  and  the  loveliest  wooden  bungalows  in  every 
fascinating  shape,  and  buried  among  the  avenues,  com- 
manding lovely  peeps  of  the  lake.  The  people  come  from 
all  over  the  States,  and  are  really  the  leaders  of  American 
life.  They  get  the  finest  speakers  and  preachers  of  the 
world  here,  and  the  audiences  are  certainly  worth  coming 
to  see.  When  I  get  home  I  shall  tell  you  all  about  it. 

"  I  stopped  on  the  way  here  at  Buffalo,  which  some 
people  think  is  the  most  beautiful  city  in  America.  The 
mansions  and  avenues  and  public  buildings  certainly 
surpassed  all  my  expectations  ;  and  this  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  it  rained  cats  and  dogs  all  the  time.  Your 
Mother  was  strangely  deluded  when  she  thought  it  was 
going  to  be  hot  here.  I  wish  it  would  be  even  decently 
warm." 

Before  he  went  to  America  Home  had  the  disagreeable 


CLOSING   YEARS  293 

task  of  bringing  a  libel  action  against  two  papers  called 
John  Bull  and  Mrs.  Bull  for  a  scurrilous  attack  upon 
himself  in  an  "  Imaginary  Interview,"  and  other  articles. 
Some  of  his  friends  thought  that  he  would  have  been 
well  advised  to  treat  the  matter  with  silent  contempt. 
But  he  found  that  it  was  doing  harm,  not  to  himself,  but 
to  the  cause  which  he  represented,  and  he  took  the  bold 
course.  The  case  ended  in  his  receiving  an  apology  and 
damages.  It  was  a  vulgar  and  squalid  business,  and 
there  is  no  need  to  rake  up  the  details  of  it  further.  But 
it  put  an  effective  stop  to  a  form  of  persecution  which 
had  been  going  on  for  some  time.  Home's  social  and 
municipal  work  at  Whitefields  had  aroused  a  good  deal 
of  enmity  among  some  who  stood  for  various  vested 
interests,  and  his  plain  speaking  and  hard  hitting  as  a 
politician  did  nothing  to  placate  them.  He  was  attacked 
with  every  device  of  low  cunning  and  poisonous  in- 
nuendo ;  but  when  his  assailants  at  last  brought  them- 
selves within  reach  of  the  law,  he  defended  himself  with 
entire  success. 

Meanwhile  he  was  busy  with  another  book,  a  short 
biography  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  for  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society.  He  wrote  it  con  amore,  for  Livingstone 
appealed  to  all  that  was  high  and  adventurous  in  his 
own  spirit.  The  result  was  a  fine  and  moving  narrative 
of  a  great  career  admirably  adapted  to  kindle  enthusiasm 
in  the  young  folks  for  whom  mainly  it  was  intended. 
One  outcome  of  this  work  was  his  collaboration,  in  the 
following  year,  with  Mr.  Hamish  McCunn  in  the  produc- 
tion of  a  Livingstone  cantata,  which  proved  very  popular 
on  missionary  occasions.  About  this  time,  also,  Home 
began  to  think  of  obtaining  a  house  at  Church  Stretton, 
a  place  which  he  greatly  loved  and  intended  to  be  his 
permanent  home.  It  was  in  his  native  county,  Shrop- 
shire, and  he  had  for  some  time  been  accustomed  to  find 
rest  and  recreation  there.  It  was  becoming  increasingly 
evident  to  him  that  he  could  not  long  continue  doing  the 


294  CLOSING   YEARS 

double  work  of  Whitefields  and  Parliament,  and  he  was 
on  the  look-out  for  some  place  in  the  country  in  which 
to  find  refuge  from  the  rush  of  London.  For  many 
reasons  Sheringham  was  not  suitable  for  more  than 
holiday  occasions.  But  at  Stretton  he  found  just  what 
he  wanted,  and  he  took  great  delight  in  all  the  arrange- 
ments for  the  new  home — destined  to  be  his  for  all  too 
brief  a  time. 

In  October  1912  his  eldest  daughter,  Dorothy,  went 
up  to  Lady  Margaret  Hall,  Oxford.  The  following 
letters  to  her  are  characteristic  : — 

"October  14,  1912. 

"  We  have  been  talking  much  of  you,  and  I  have  been 
thinking  about  your  great  new  experiences  all  the  time. 
I  wonder  how  you  managed,  who  you  saw,  and  what  your 
first  impressions  are.  It  is  a  wonderful  event,  settling 
in  at  the  University,  and  beginning  life  in  the  glorious 
historic,  academic  home  of  so  many  of  the  greatest  of 
our  English  fathers.  You  ought  to  begin  by  reading 
Matthew  Arnold's  wonderful  preface  to  his  Essays.  Do 
you  remember  the  famous  phrases  about  '  the  lost  en- 
chantments of  the  Middle  Age,'  '  home  of  lost  causes  and 
forsaken  beliefs,'  and  so  forth  ?  Fortunately  for  you 
Oxford  is  showing  herself  more  than  this.  She  is  still, 
I  think,  the  Mother  of  new  ideals — certainly  of  new 
idealists.  The  University  that  bred  both  Wesley  and 
Pusey  can  never  stand  outside  religious  movements. 
Sometimes  she  calls  us  to  reconsider  and  reproduce  the 
past ;  but  sometimes  she  plays  a  braver  and  wiser  part, 
and  to-day  there  is  in  Oxford  a  progressive  spirit  with 
which  you  will  find  yourself  in  deep  sympathy  and 
agreement.  When  University  tests  were  first  abolished 
by  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  the  earliest  Free  Church  invasion 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  took  place,  many  among  us 
were  timid  and  fearful  as  to  the  result.  But  since  then 
we  have  learned  to  be  secure  in  our  own  principles, 


CLOSING    YEARS  295 

and  to  understand  our  own  history  and  traditions 
better ;  and  this  is  good  for  us  in  every  way.  We  can 
do  what  so  many  Church  people,  to  their  loss,  dare  not 
do.  We  can  get  the  best  wherever  we  find  it.  We  can 
learn  from  them,  and  join  occasionally  in  their  services, 
though  they  still  stiffen  and  narrow  themselves  against 
public  association  with  us  in  worship  and  service.  That 
is  why,  outside  England,  we  have  won  the  day  absolutely. 
The  Protestant  platform  has  got  to  be  broad  and  gen- 
erous and  inclusive,  and  one  can  only  feel  sorry  for  those 
who  are  the  victims  of  a  sacerdotal  view  which  cuts  them 
off  from  helpful  association  with  millions  of  their  fellow- 
Christians. 

"  You  will  find  that  this  is  more  and  more  the  dividing 
line.  Mere  differences  in  ecclesiastical  organization  will 
count  less  and  less  in  the  future.  But  glad  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Christianity  of  all  who  love  Christ,  and 
willingness  to  unite  with  them  in  worship  and  at  the 
Communion,  and  so  forth,  is  the  great  thing,  and  it 
gives  us  an  immense  advantage  in  the  modern  world. 

"  All  this  is  rather  sermonic,  my  dear  child,  but  I  want 
you  to  realize  it  at  the  start,  because  it  will  keep  you 
amid  all  problems  and  experiences  true  to  the  best  and 
wisest  conceptions  of  Christ's  Church  and  Kingdom. 

"  Have  the  best  of  times  ;  and  get  all  the  good  out 
of  Oxford  you  can,  and  give  her  of  your  best.  ..." 

11  October  29,  1912. 

"...  Yours  is  a  splendid  letter,  and  helps  us  to  realize 
your  new  life  and  its  possibilities.  You  seem  to  be 
having  a  gay  and  strenuous  time.  The  debate  was  quite 
a  triumph.  It  is  one  of  my  hopes  that  you  will  become 
increasingly  capable  in  putting  things  in  this  way  before 
others.  There  are  so  many  good  ideas  in  the  world 
which  never  get  a  proper  show  because  of  lack  of  com- 
petent exponents.  After  all,  people  are  curiously  willing 
to  be  taught ;  and  in  Oxford  there  is  no  indisposition  to 


296  CLOSING    YEARS 

accept  new  ideas.  What  we  want  always  and  every- 
where is  missionaries — what  Aunt  S.  disapproves  as 
'  agitators  '  !  These  causes  can  only  be  won  by  people 
who  will  agitate  for  them.  I  now  regard  you  as  having 
definitely  joined  the  ranks  of  the  agitators  !  .  .  ." 

"  November  19,  1912. 

"...  Wasn't  this  House  disgraceful  last  week  ?  It 
really  made  me  ashamed  and  horrified.  In  a  way 
I  think  it  has  done  good,  for  all  sorts  and  kinds  of 
people  have  joined  in  protest ;  and  the  Tory  vandals  now 
see  that  to  wreck  the  proceedings  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons is  not  to  win  but  to  lose  their  cause.  Asquith  has 
really  come  out  of  the  mess  magnificently.  His  dignity 
and  courage  have  never  been  more  perfectly  illustrated. 
We  on  our  side  are  tremendously  proud  of  him  and  loyal 
to  him. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  another  piece  of  news.  You  re- 
member Hamish  McCunn,  who  wrote  the  music  to  the 
Orient  Pageant.  Well,  he  and  I  have  collaborated  over 
a  Livingstone  Cantata.  It  will  be  quite  short,  but  I 
think  it  will  be  a  great  success.  I  have,  of  course, 
written  the  words  ;  but  we  are  going  to  have  as  a  climax 
a  setting  of  words  chosen  from  Myers'  St.  Paul,  and 
McCunn  has  written  a  really  glorious  tune.  .  .  ." 

"  December  2,  1912. 

"...  When  you  come  home  we  must  talk  about  this 
question  of  disendowment.  It  is  too  big  for  a  letter. 
But  in  the  main,  of  course,  it  is  a  question  of  tithe :  and 
tithe  is  a  tax  levied  on  land  for  the  support  of  a  Church. 
You  cannot  free  a  Church  from  State  control  and  still 
allow  it  to  tax  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people  for  its 
own  support.  In  multitudes  of  parishes  in  Wales  not 
more  than  half  a  dozen  people  go  to  the  parish  church, 
yet  the  whole  parish  is  taxed  through  the  tithe  to  support 
a  parson  who  is  not  in  the  least  acceptable  to  the  people. 
The  whole  system  is  ridiculous,  and  ought  to  be  abolished. 


CLOSING   YEARS  297 

It  has  been  an  open  scandal  for  years.  The  tithe  was, 
of  course,  originally  imported  from  England  and  imposed 
on  the  Welsh  people  against  their  will.  The  whole  case 
is  conclusive  against  the  perpetuation  of  tithe.  Beyond 
that  there  is  a  case,  though  not  a  very  sound  one,  for 
allowing  the  Episcopal  Church  to  have  the  exclusive 
enjoyment  of  those  ancient  endowments  which  were, 
in  point  of  fact,  originally  the  property  of  the  Roman 
Church.  We  say,  and  say  truly,  that  when  the  Church 
became  Protestant  these  endowments  were  transferred 
to  a  Protestant  Church,  and  now  the  Church  is  over- 
whelmingly Free  Church  another  disposition  of  this 
property  ought  to  be  made.  It  cannot  be  made  to  us, 
for  it  is  against  our  principles  to  accept  State  endow- 
ments ;  but  it  might  be  used  for  charitable  and  philan- 
thropic purposes  common  to  all  the  Welsh  people.  That 
roughly  is  the  case.  .  .  ." 


"  January  21,  1913. 

'*  .  .  .  We  are  steadily  working  through  our  business 
in  this  House,  and  the  excitement  of  the  Franchise  Bill 
is  at  the  door.  Everywhere  you  find  animated  groups 
discussing  '  Women.'  There  is  no  interest  left  in  men  ! 
Ought  women  still  to  be  ranked  with  peers  and  lunatics, 
or  do  they  deserve  to  be  treated  as  rational,  responsible 
beings  ?  The  discussion  is  all  the  more  interesting  be- 
cause violent  partizans  are  found  in  both  lobbies,  and 
you  are  never  sure  what  view  your  neighbour  will  take. 
You  start  a  friendly  conversation  on  the  subject,  and  in 
a  few  seconds  vials  of  boiling  oil  are  poured  out  over  you. 
Fortunately  on  the  main  question  I  am  not  convertible 
one  way  or  the  other  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  degree 
of  enfranchisement  possible  just  now,  it  is  of  course 
another  story.  We  have  the  best  chance  of  getting  Mr. 
Dickinson's  amendment,  but  a  limited  franchise  would 
certainly  ruin  Liberalism,  and  nothing  will  persuade  me 
to  vote  for  a  new  propertied  vote.  ..." 


298  CLOSING   YEARS 

"  January  27,  1913. 

"  You  seem  to  be  in  for  a  high  old  time  politically, 
and  you  must,  of  course,  acquit  yourself  in  a  way  worthy 
of  the  two  distinguished  families  you  represent  !  So 
I  will  sketch  for  you  the  line  I  would  myself  take  if 
I  were  arguing  the  Referendum  proposal.  First  of  all, 
its  impossibility  in  our  mixed  community.  Scottish 
law  is  quite  different  from  English,  and  Irish  law  from 
both.  You  could  not  have  a  Referendum  on  Scotch  Land 
Reform  because  no  Englishman  would  understand  it. 
Again,  a  Referendum  on  Welsh  Disestablishment  would 
not  be  fair  if  the  matter  were  to  be  decided  by  people  who 
would  not  be  affected  at  all  one  way  or  the  other.  In 
America — which  is  sure  to  be  quoted — the  Referendum 
only  applies  to  separate  States.  Woodrow  Wilson,  the 
great  advocate  of  it,  told  me  that  it  could  not  be  applied 
over  the  whole  Union.  That  shows  the  practical  im- 
possibility of  applying  it  here  to  all  parts  of  the  United 
Kingdom. 

"  (2)  You  cannot  get  a  pure  Referendum  on  a  single 
subject.  That  must  be  clear  to  everybody.  You  cannot 
tell  why  an  elector  votes  Yes  or  No.  If  he  is  a  strong 
Tory  he  does  it,  probably,  to  embarrass  the  Government, 
and  not  because  of  any  views  he  takes  on  the  particular 
question.  Look  at  Women's  Suffrage,  which  is  the  most 
favourable  subject  for  a  Referendum.  Just  think  what 
variety  of  motives  have  been  influencing  people  lately 
as  to  how  they  should  vote  on  the  subject  in  the  House 
of  Commons. 

"  (3)  You  cannot  refer  general  principles  because 
you  would  never  get  both  sides  to  agree  on  a  statement 
of  them.  You  must  therefore  refer  complicated  Bills, 
like  the  Home  Rule  Bill.  Every  objection  possible  to 
any  clause  might  lead  someone  to  say  No,  even  though 
he  strongly  approved  of  the  principle  of  the  Bill.  The 
Referendum  is  thus  a  device  for  uniting  against  reform 
every  carping  critic,  and  every  conceivable  school  of 


CLOSING   YEARS  299 

objector.    It  would  thus  make  Reform  frightfully  difficult 
in  a  country  like  ours. 

"  (4)  The  Referendum  is  really  the  end  of  Represen- 
tative Government.  Our  belief  is  that  we  should  choose 
our  man  and  make  him  a  responsible  representative, 
answerable  to  us.  But  if  you  have  the  Referendum, 
he  will  say, '  Oh,  let  us  have  a  popular  vote  to  save  me 
trouble.'  The  system  must  undermine  parliamentary 
responsibility  and  do  a  great  deal  of  mischief.  .  .  ." 

In  1913  Home  became  President  of  the  National 
Brotherhood  Council.  This  meant  further  demands  on 
his  time,  but  he  met  them  ungrudgingly.  His  experience 
at  Whitefields  had  convinced  him  of  the  great  possi- 
bilities of  the  Brotherhood  movement  as  an  active 
adjunct  of  the  Church,  and  as  a  means  of  mobilizing  the 
Christian  manhood  of  the  country  for  social  and  philan- 
thropic service  of  many  kinds.  In  his  presidential  address 
at  the  annual  meetings  in  Birmingham  he  described  the 
movement  as  a  new  Protestantism  which  stood  for  "the 
full  religious  rights  and  privileges  of  what  old  Piers 
Plowman  called  '  the  common  man,'  "  and  he  outlined 
a  practical  programme  of  applied  Christianity  well  cal- 
culated to  appeal  to  all  that  was  best  in  his  hearers. 
Among  these  Brotherhoods  Home  was  immensely 
popular.  The  men  felt  that  he  was  their  friend,  that 
he  understood  them,  and  was  able  to  voice  their  aspira- 
tions as  well  as  their  needs.  They  followed  his  career 
with  the  deepest  interest  as  that  of  one  who  meant  what 
he  said  and  who  was  not  afraid  to  practise  what  he 
preached.  After  his  death  no  more  sincere  or  touching 
tributes  were  received  than  those  from  working  men  who 
had  been  accustomed  to  look  to  him  as  the  leader  of 
their  choice.  In  one  of  his  last  public  utterances  Home 
paid  tribute  to  the  movement  as  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able in  the  recent  history  of  Christianity,  and  described 
the  secret  of  its  attraction  as  twofold  :  "  Firstly,  it 


300  CLOSING    YEARS 

presents  for  the  acceptance  of  men  a  very  simple  faith  ; 
and  secondly,  it  brings  them  to  close  quarters  with  cer- 
tain giant  social  evils  which  we  of  the  Churches  have 
ignored  too  long." 

What  leisure  time  Home  could  obtain  during  this  busy 
year  was  occupied  with  preparing  the  "  Yale  Lectures  on 
Preaching,"  which  he  was  under  promise  to  deliver  in 
America  in  the  spring  of  1914.  It  was  a  task  quite  after 
his  own  heart.  He  chose  for  his  subject  "  The  Romance 
of  Preaching."  Beginning  with  a  discussion  of  prophetic 
and  apostolic  preaching,  he  went  on  to  deal  with  his 
theme  historically,  illustrating  it  from  the  lives  of  great 
preachers  of  every  age — Athanasius  and  Chrysostom, 
Savonarola  and  Knox,  John  Robinson,  Wesley  and 
Whitefield.  The  lectures  are  printed  just  as  they  were 
spoken ;  but  they  give  evidence  of  careful  preparation, 
and  even  the  written  word  glows  with  something  of  the 
energy  and  enthusiasm  of  the  speaker.  The  book  is  full 
of  good  things,  unexpected  sidelights  and  wise  counsels  : 
Home  loved  to  magnify  the  preacher's  office,  and  it  is 
easy  to  read  between  the  lines  and  see  how  true  he  was  to 
his  own  great  ideals.  As  delivered  the  lectures  made  a 
very  great  impression.  Dr.  Charles  R.  Brown,  of  Yale, 
wrote  of  them  :  "  Few  lecturers  have  ever  so  gripped  the 
divinity  students,  the  larger  audience  of  pastors  in  active 
service,  and  the  thoughtful  people  of  Newhaven  as  did 
Silvester  Home."  "  The  intellectual  distinction  which 
marked  his  utterances,  the  fine  literary  form  in  which 
they  were  phrased,  the  moral  passion  which  gave  to 
their  delivery  that  energy  which  belongs  to  words  which 
are  '  spirit  and  life,'  together  with  the  rare  spiritual 
insight  displayed,  all  combined  to  make  notable  the 
service  he  rendered  to  Yale  University." 

The  delivery  of  these  lectures  was  practically  the  last 
service  which  Home  rendered  to  his  generation.  By 
the  close  of  the  year  1913  it  was  becoming  evident  that 
his  bodily  strength  would  not  much  longer  be  equal  to 


CLOSING    YEARS  301 

the  strain  he  was  putting  upon  it.  He  decided,  under 
advice,  that  he  must  retire  from  Whitefields.  It  was  a 
great  wrench,  but,  in  a  sense,  his  work  there  was  done. 
He  had  been  a  pioneer,  and  it  was  quite  possible  for 
others  to  carry  on  and  consolidate  that  which  he  had  so 
well  begun.  He  was  happy  in  being  able  to  hand  over  his 
work  to  so  competent  a  successor  as  the  Rev.  Charter 
Piggott,  who  had  for  some  little  while  been  his  assistant 
definitely  with  a  view  to  this  end.  For  himself  he  meant 
for  a  time  to  continue  in  Parliament  and  give  himself 
to  public  work. 

The  resignation  from  Whitefields  took  effect  in  January 
1914,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year  Home  started 
for  America,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  to  deliver  his  Yale 
Lectures  and  to  fulfil  other  engagements  in  the  States 
and  in  Canada.  There  was  some  misgiving  about  his 
undertaking  the  task,  and  the  doctors  told  him  that  he 
would  need  to  avoid  all  over-exertion.  It  was  hoped, 
however,  that  the  rest  of  the  voyage  would  do  him  good, 
and  in  any  case  his  programme  was  not  an  unusually 
heavy  one.  He  greatly  enjoyed  lecturing  and  preaching 
at  Yale,  and  his  bearing  was  full  of  life  and  power. 
The  visit  was  an  unqualified  success,  renewing  old  friend- 
ships and  making  new  ones.  From  Boston  he  went  on 
to  Niagara,  and  thence  took  boat  to  Toronto.  As  the 
boat  entered  Toronto  harbour  he  was  walking  on  the  deck 
with  his  wife  when  he  suddenly  fell,  and  before  aid 
could  reach  him  his  bright  spirit  had  passed.  It  was  a 
great  and  fitting  thing  that  he  should  be  thus  called 
away  in  the  midst  of  his  work,  but  to  his  friends  the  shock 
was  overwhelming.  The  great  Brotherhood  meeting 
which  he  was  to  have  addressed  on  arrival  in  Toronto 
was  turned  into  a  memorial  service,  the  first  of  many  in 
which  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people  met  to  express 
their  sorrow  and  to  thank  God  for  the  gift  of  so  great 
a  life. 

Home's  body  was  taken  from  the  ship  to  the  house  of 


302  CLOSING    YEARS 

Mr.  Ro well, 'whose guest  he  was  to  have  been.  He  and 
his  family  and  other  Canadian  friends  were  untiring  in 
their  sympathetic  helpfulness  to  Mrs.  Home  in  this  time 
of  sore  need.  She  bore  herself  with  great  bravery 
through  it  all,  and  it  was  arranged  that  she  should 
accompany  the  body  back  to  England  a  few  days  later. 
Here  at  home  the  sense  of  loss  was  acute  and  widespread, 
and  found  expression  in  innumerable  tributes  from  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  people,  and  in  a  great  number 
of  memorial  services  all  over  the  country.  The  Con- 
gregational Union  was  then  in  session  in  London,  and 
the  City  Temple  was  never  filled  by  a  larger  or  more 
representative  audience  than  met  to  pay  to  Home  the 
last  loving  tribute.  The  note  of  the  service  was  one  of 
triumph  and  hope  tinged  only  with  the  passionate  regret 
that  his  time  should  have  been  so  short. 

The  body  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  peaceful  little  burial- 
ground  of  Church  Stretton.  At  the  service  there  Home's 
lifelong  friend,  Dr.  Forsyth,  spoke  words  which  may 
well  serve  to  sum  up  the  story  we  have  tried  to  tell  in 
this  book. 

"  Silvester  Home  belonged  to  those  who  are  a  bond 
between  nations.  He  died  while  acting  as  a  link 
between  the  old  world  and  the  new.  But  also  in  his 
death  he  is  a  living  link  between  the  seen  and  unseen 
worlds.  These  are  the  deaths  that  do  not  impoverish 
life,  but  enrich  it.  So  Death  is  the  Great  Reconciler. 

"  Therefore  draw  no  blinds  down,  pull  the  curtains 
aside,  flood  the  house  with  sunshine,  strew  the  place 
with  lively  flowers  for  our  lively  hope,  bid  the  young 
not  cease  their  play,  and  the  old  not  cease  from  their 
wholesome  talk  of  friendly  things.  It  is  all  less  joyous 
than  the  air  of  his  place  now  in  the  house  not  made  with 
hands.  It  is  the  note  of  blessing,  and  triumph,  and  glory, 
and  gladness  that  answers  best  his  present  frame,  if 

1  N.  W.  Bowell,  K.C.,  a  member  of  the  Ontario  Legislature. 


CLOSING   YEARS  303 

our  faith  is  true.  The  very  Cross  is  submerged  in  the 
Resurrection  joy.  Let  a  solemn  gladness  keep  our  hearts 
and  minds  in  Jesus  Christ. 

"He  went  quickly  in  one  speechless  moment.  But 
do  not  speak  of  it  as  tragic. 

As  a  guest,  that  may  not  stay 
Long  and  sad  farewells  to  say, 
Glides  with  smiling  face  away, 

Of  the  sweetness  and  the  zest 
Of  thy  happy  life  possessed, 
Thou  hast  left  us  at  thy  best. 

"  I  am  here  because  (I  am  told)  he  would  have  wished 
it.  But  if  we  think  of  his  wishes,  and  if  any  voice  of  his 
could  reach  us  now,  he  would  bid  us  speak  not  of  him 
but  of  Christ,  who  was  the  supreme  passion  of  his  full 
and  eager  life.  That  quick  manner  of  leaving  life 
became  the  swift  spirit  of  it. 

"  He  was  a  '  happy  warrior '  (what  a  Sword  of  the 
Spirit  he  was,  with  a  point,  and  an  edge,  and  a  flash,  and 
a  laugh).  And  as  that  warrior  was  in  a  crisis 

.  .  .  attired 
With  sudden  brightness  like  a  man  inspired, 

so  we  may  think  of  the  sharp  crisis  of  our  brother's  end. 
I  think  of  that  eagerness  as  he  rushed — shall  we  say 
rushed  ? — at  a  sharp  call,  with  a  sudden  and  shining 
surprise,  into  the  presence  of  his  Lord.  He  went  as  the 
lightning  flashes  from  this  earthly  end  of  heaven  to  the 
other.  He  went  with  a  pure  apostolic  haste,  tarrying 
to  salute  no  man  by  the  way,  nor  bid  farewell  to  his 
ownest  own.  There  is  in  Padua  a  fresco  by  Giotto  of 
Christ's  Resurrection  in  which  He  seems  almost  shooting 
upwards  from  the  tomb,  His  face  impatient  to  leave  the 
world  and  return  to  His  Father.  And  we  can  think  of 
this  soul  now,  taking  his  way  through  that  heavenly 
place  to  his  Lord's  side  with  more  than  all  the  raptness 


304  CLOSING   YEARS 

he  spent  on  his  Lord's  cause  here.  As  who  should  say, 
'  This  one  thing  I  do.  I  praise  and  magnify  His  glorious 
Name.  Let  us  exalt  His  name  together.  Rejoice 
evermore.' 

"  In  the  lives  of  true  saints  and  great  wrestlers  with 
God  (yea,  and  of  some  who  know  themselves  to  be 
neither  !)  there  come  times  when  they  wish  to  pray  no 
more.  It  is  not  weariness,  nor  impatience,  nor  despair. 
It  is  the  other  way.  It  is  fruition.  '  In  that  day  ye 
shall  ask  Me  nothing.'  It  is  not  even  repose.  It  is  the 
old  energy  in  a  new  and  higher  form.  It  is  praise.  It  is 
adoration.  We  just  worship.  So  death  comes  to  such  a 
soul  as  once  filled  this  clay  before  us.  Here  his  life  was 
one  ceaseless  labour,  one  urgent  and  sustained  prayer. 
Toil  and  prayer  were  one.  It  was  a  divine,  sleepless 
importunacy.  No  one  more  incarnated  the  words — 

I  will  not  cease  from  mental  strife, 
Nor  let  the  sword  fall  from  my  hand, 
Till  we  have  built  Jerusalem 
In  England's  green  and  pleasant  land. 

But  all  that  now  gives  way.  Quest  ends  in  conquest. 
And  he  does  not  simply  rest  from  his  labours.  He 
'  triumphs  in  conclusive  bliss.'  The  energy  of  his 
blessed  spirit  goes  out  in  praise,  and  all  that  is  in  him  is 
stirred  up  to  bless  and  magnify  his  Saviour's  Glorious 
Name,  in  such  high  offices  as  suit  the  perfect  energies 
of  heaven.  That  should  be  our  frame  if  we  follow  him 
in  spirit. 

"  It  is  not  well  at  such  times  to  say  much  about  heaven 
or  about  the  dead.  They  know  more  than  we  do.  And 
I  am  not  praising  Silvester  Home,  but  God's  Grace  in 
him.  I  would  join  him  as  he  praises — as  in  worship 
we  forget  the  man  next  us.  We  cannot  praise  too  much 
Him  in  whose  worship  our  dead  are  lost  to  the  world. 
But  is  it  heartless  praise,  his  worship  now  ?  Can  he  for- 
get us  ?  No  more  than  the  bride  forgets  her  father's 


CLOSING   YEARS  805 

house  when  she  goes  to  be  always  with  her  new  lord. 
Once  he  was  ours,  now  he  is  much  more  Christ's— yet 
ours  still.  And  there  are  great  reunions." 

To  the  multitude  of  his  friends  the  news  of  Home's 
premature  death  came  as  a  staggering  blow.  Letters 
poured  in  upon  his  widow  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
They  give  abundant  evidence  not  merely  of  his  wide- 
spread influence  for  good,  but  of  the  deep  affection  and 
regard  in  which  he  was  held  by  friends  and  opponents 
alike.  The  Bishop  of  London  wrote :  "  I  had  the  greatest 
respect  and  affection  for  him,"  and  the  same  note  was 
struck  by  many  others  who  were  not  of  his  way  of 
thinking. 

His  memory  will  long  remain  in  "  lives  made  better 
by  his  presence."  But  it  was  thought  that  there  should 
be  some  tangible  public  memorial  of  a  life  so  long  dedi- 
cated to  the  public  service.  A  movement  to  this  end 
was  set  on  foot  soon  after  his  death,  and  the  scheme 
untimately  took  the  form  of  a  village  institute  at  Church 
Stretton,  which  should  serve  as  a  religious,  social,  and 
educational  centre  for  all  the  people  of  the  district.  Sub- 
scriptions came  in  from  far  and  near,  and  a  beautiful 
and  convenient  building  was  erected  from  the  design 
of  Mr.  Garrett  Horder.  It  was  opened  and  dedicated 
to  his  memory  in  September  1917,  when  the  Bishop  of 
Hereford,  Mr.  Augustine  Birrell,  and  Dr.  J.  D.  Jones 
joined  in  paying  fitting  tribute  to  the  man  and  his  work. 
May  this  record  of  his  life  serve  also  to  keep  his  memory 
green,  and  to  stimulate  others  to  follow  where  he  led. 


20 


INDEX 


Acland,  Mr.  A.,  200 

Adeney,  Dr.,  79,  190 

Alden,  Mr.  Percy,  91,  154 

Alexander,  Sir  G.,  183 

Allen,  Mr.  J.  J.,  249 

Allen  Street  Church,  42 

Allenson,  Mr.,  97 

Allon,  Dr.  EL,  148 

Amberley  Ridge,  257 

America,  churches  in,  228 

American  visits,  109,  167,  292 

"  Anarchy  and  Brotherhood,"  208 

Angus,  Dr.,  78 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  199  f. 

Army  and  Navy,  223 

Arnold,  Dr.,  113 

Arnold,  Matthew,  151 

Ashford,  190 

Asquith,  Mr.,  177,  199,  211,  236 

Aylesbury,   194 

Balfour,  Mr.  A.,  194,  196,  211 

Bantock,  Alderman,  249 

Baptist  principles,  78 

Barran,  Mr.  R.,  130 

Barrett,  Mr.  B.  J.,  103 

Ban-owe,  78  f.,  153 

Beale,  Mr.  J.  E.,  249 

Belloc,  Mr.  Hilaire,  258 

Bennett,  Rev.  J.,  138 

Bennett,  Sir  Risdon,  143  f. 

Berry,  Dr.  Chas.,  107 

Bible  in  schools,  226 

Bicycling  tours,  269 

Birmingham,  195 

Birrell,  Mr.  Augustine,  126,   177, 

198,  235 

Black  Country  tour,  254 
Blickling  Hall,  270 
Bluff,  the,  94 
Boer  War,  112f. 
Booth,  Chas.,  179 
Bradford,  call  to,  132 
Bridgnorth,    186 
Bristol,  visit  to,  135 


British  Weekly,  132 

Brotherhood  work,  175,  258,  299 

Brown,  Dr.  Chas.  R.,  298 

Brown,  Mr.  W.  H.,  135,  174,  177 

Browning,  Mrs.,  84 

Bryce,  Lord,  112,  131 

Bull,  John,  293 

Burns,  Mr.  John,  191,  212 

Bute  Hall,  88 

Butler,  Mr.,  of  Bristol,  253 

Butt,  Mme  C.,  123 

Caird,  Principal  J.,  89 
Caird,  Professor  E.,  7,  23,  89 
Calderwood,  Professor,  17 
Calvin,  John,  279 
Cambridge,  Mission  in,  120f. 
Campbell-Bannennan,      Sir      H., 

127  f.,  194 
Campbell,  Rev.  R.  J.,   128,   133, 

156,  166,  192,  208 
Carrington,  Earl,  174 
Carr's  Lane  Church,  37 
Carson,  Sir  E.,  238 
Carter,  Mr.  John,  177 
Cathedrals,  use  of,  234 
Catholic  emancipation,  238 
Cave,  Lord,  232 
Cecil,  Lord  Hugh,  200,  231,  244 
Cecil,  Lord  Robert,  244 
Centenary  of  L.M.S.,  87 
Century  of  Christian  Service,  82 
Chair   of    Congregational    Union, 

206  f. 

Chamberlain,  Mr.,  161,  183,  242 
Chamberlain,  Mr.  Austen,  195,  243 
Chartered  Company,  105 
Chat  an  qua,  292 
Children  and  the  Bible,  159 
Children,  love  of,  266 
Chisholm,  Rev.  J.,  221 
Christian  World,  101,  263 
"Church  by  Grace  Established," 

208 
Church  membership,  277 


307 


308 


INDEX 


Church  Times,  79,  153 
Churchill,  Mr.  Winston,  196 
Clarence,  Duke  of,  145 
Clavering,  140 
Clay,  Rev.  Chas.,  101 
Clifford,  Dr.,  78,  129  f.,  200 
Collins,  Sir  Stephen,  256 
Collings,  Mr.  Jesse,  187,  244 
Commons,    House    of,    191,    214, 

222  f. 

Congo,  speeches  on,  222 
Congregational  Union,  75 
Conway,  Professor,  147 
Contemporary  Review,  243 
Cook,  Mr.,  of  Aldborough,  253 
Cornwall,  tour  in,  174 
Country  churches,  246 
Courtney,  Mr.  W.  L.,  33 
Coventry  Patmore,  167 
Cozens-Hardy,  Lord,  99 
Cozens-Hardy,  W.  H.,  38,  62,  150 
Craven  Arms,  187 
Cromer,  visit  to,  155 
Cromwell  celebration,  109 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  264 
Cuckfield,  2,  3 
Cuh-oss,  Dr.,  21 

Daily  Mail,  115 
Daily  News,  112 
Dale,  Dr.  R.  W.,  31,  37,  83,  91, 

142,  242,  276 
Darlow,  Rev.  T.  H.,  38,  73,  102, 

147 

D'Aubigny,  M.,  210,  230 
Denney,  Rev.  Dr.,  252 
Devon,  tour  in,  253  f . 
Dialectic  (Glasgow),  9  f.,  18 
Diamond  Jubilee,  102 
Dickinson,  Sir  W.  H.,  295 
"  Discipline     and     Discipleship," 

143 

Disendowment,  296 
Disestablishment,  12,  17 
Dorset,  tour  in,  256 
Dykes,  Rev.  Dr.,  120 

Edinburgh,  call  to,  116 
Education  Bill,  127,  129,  186 
Education  Question,  64 
Edward,  King,  122,  172 
Edwards,  J.  H.,  M.P.,  252 
Elmslie,  Professor,  65 
Emmanuel    Church,    Cambridge, 

120 

Evan  Harrington,  263 
Evangelical  Magazine,  152 


Evans,  Rev.  Justin,  88 
Everywoman,  272 
Examiner,  The,  194 
Exeter  Hall,  139,  149 

Fairbairn,  Principal,  19,  31,  33,  60, 

117 

Farrar,  Canon,  25 
Finlay,  Sir  R.,  240 
Fordham,  Mr.  A.,  167 
Forsyth,  Dr.,  302 
Foster,  Sir  W.,  105 
Fraternal  Society,  72,  145 
Free  Churches,  History  of,  262,  278 
Free  Trade,  279 
Friendships,  274 
Furner,  Rev.  A.,  7 

George,  Mr.  Lloyd,  206,  208,  282 
George  Street  Church,  Oxford,  41 
Germany,  tour  in,  9 
Germany,  visit  to,  202  f. 
Gibson,  Dr.  Munro,  65 
Gilbert  and  Sullivan,  272 
Gilbert,  Dr.  S.,  110 
Gladstone,  Mr.,  33,  95,  106 
Gladstone,  Mr.  H.,  127 
Glasgow  Herald,  263 
Glasgow,  meetings  at,  129 
Glasgow  University,  7  f.,  88 
Gloucestershire  tour,  257 
Goddard,  Sir  D.  Ford,  206 
Golf  at  Ashford,  190 
Goodhart,  Dr.,  160 
Goodman,  Miss,  139 
Goodrich,  Dr.  A.,  8,  9,  15 
Grace,  Dr.  W.  G.,  171 
Green,  Mr.  Arnold,  141 
Greenwood,  79,  153 
Grimm,  Dr.,  204 
Gurdon,  Sir  W.  B.,  253 

Hackney,  Rev.  Professor,  124 
Halifax,  Lord,  125,  130 
Hamburg,  visit  to,  204 
Hampshire  tour,  251 
Harcourt,  Sir  W.,  16,  104,  161 
Hardie,  Mr.  Keir,  191 
Harnack,  Dr.  A.,  204 
Hart,  Dr.  Lavington,  75 
Harwood,  Rev.  Hardy,  148,  194 
Hatch,  Dr.  E.,  66 
Hawthorne,  Nath.,  168,  178  f. 
Heretic,  A  Modern,  262 
Herschell,  Lord,  139 
Higher  Criticism,  145 


INDEX 


309 


History  of  the  Free  Churches,  126, 

136 

Hocking,  Rev.  Silas,  129,  195 
Holborn,  Mr.  W.,  50,  54,  65,  105 
Holmes,  Rev.  J.,  174 
Home  Life,  266 
Home  Rule  Bill,  152 
Home,  Chas.,  3  f.,  135  f. 
Home,  Fred,  138,  177  f.,  185 
Home,  Leonard  T.,  83 
Home,  Miss  D.,  266 
Home,  Mrs.  C.  S.,  175,  279,  283 
Horton,  Dr.,  96  f.,  113,  146,  151 
Hugh  Price  Hughes,  83,  127 
Huntingdon,  Countess  of,  134 
Hutton,  Mr.  A.,  186,  187 
Huxley,  Dr.,  188 
Hyde  Park  meetings,  81 
Hymns,  264 

Imaginary  interview,  293 

Independent,  73,  104,  153,  161 

International  Council,  73,  109,  139 

Introspection,  84 

Ipswich  election,  206  f.,  213,  275 

Ireland,  Church  in,  230 

Ireland,  tour  in,  256 

Ireland,  visit  to,  198 

Irish  University,  105 

Isle  of  Man,  141 

Italian  Lakes,  99 

Italy,  holiday  in,  125 

Itinerant  ministry,  245  f . 

Jebb,  Professor,  17,  18 

Jericho,  101 

Jerusalem,  101 

John  Bull's  Other  Island,  192 

Jones,   Dr.  J.  D.,  127,  194,    198, 

246  f. 

Jones,  Wm.,  M.P.,  63 
Jowett,  Dr.  J.  H.,  60,  174,  211 

Kane,  Captain,  163 

Kelvin,  Lord,  12,  88 

Kensington  Church  Centenary,  82 

Kenward,  Rev.  H.,  252 

Kidderminster,  191 

King's    Declaration,     speech    on, 

223 
Kingston-on-Thames,  6 

Land  question,  the,  284 
Lawrence,  Rev.  E.,  146 
Lawson,  Sir  W.,  14,  131 
League  of  Nations,  261 
Let  us  Pray,  102 


Letheringsett,  94,  99 
Leys  School,  120,  121 
Liberal  Party,  95 
Lidgett,  Dr.  Scott-,  199  f. 
Life  and  Labour  in  London,  179 
Life  that  is  Easy,  The,  97 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  278 
Liquor  question,  188 
Liverpool,  call  to,  132 
Livingstone,  Life  of  David,  262,  293 
Llanfairfechan,  141 
London,  Bishop  of,  305 
London     Congregational     Union, 

108,  134,  146 
London   Missionary   Society,    51, 

149,    154 
London    Missionary    Society, 

history  of,  262 
Lord's  Supper,  the,  278 
Ludlow  election,  177  f. 
Lydbury  North,  187 
Lyndhurst  Road  Church,  45 
Lyttelton,  Mr.  A.,  244 

Macaulay,  Rev.  Dr.,  239 
Macfadyen,  Dr.  J.  A.,  22 
Mackennal,  Dr.,  31  f.,  33,  127 
Madeley  Mission,  51 
Magee,  Rev.  C.  A.  V.,  38,  62 
Magistrates,  appointment  of,  225 
Manchester  Church  House,  216 
Manchester  election,  196 
Mansfield  College,  30  f.,  166 
Mansfield  House,  91,  154 
Manual  of  Church  Fellowship,  78 
Marks,  Sir  G.  Croydon,  226 
Marriage,  76 

Marshall,  Dr.  Newton,  204 
Martineau,  Dr.,  107 
Martyrs'  tercentenary,  78 
Massie,  Dr.,  33 
McClure,  Sir  J.  D.,  98 
McCunn,  Hamish,  291 
McKenna,  Mr.,  198 
Mearns,  Rev.  A.,  39,  108 
Mediterranean  tour,  100 
Member  of  Parliament,  211 
Men's  Club  opening,  189 
Meredith,  George,  263 
Merthyr  Tydvil,  211 
Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  193 
Militarism,  103 
Milton  Club,  36,  61 
Milton,  John,  279 
Mission  at  Kensington,  96 
Model  Citizen,  The,  181 
Modern  Heretic,  A,  83 


310 


INDEX 


Moreton-in-the-Marsh,  257 
Morgan,  Dr.  Campbell,  221 
Morley,  Lord,  52,  105 
Morningside  Church,  116 
Murray,  Professor  Gilbert,  63 
Myers,  F.,  296 

Nelson,  Earl,  125 
New  Theology,  208  f . 
Newcastle  election,  197 
Newport,  Salop,  3,  4 
Newth,  Rev.  Dr.,  138 
Niagara,  291 
Nichol,  Professor,  22 
Nicholson,  Sir  Arthur,  249 
Nicoll,  Sir  W.  Robertson,  127 
Nonconformist  Conscience,  115 
Nonconformity  in  the  Nineteenth 

Century,  193 
Norfolk  tour,  250 
Norman,  Sir  H.,  131 
Norway,  visit  to,  94,  141,  157 
Netting  Dale  Mission,  84 
Novel  writing,  270 

Olaf  Street  Mission,  69 
Ordeal  of  Faith,  262 
Ordination  service,  68 
Outwoods,  the,  6,  254 
Oxford  Music  Hall  Mission,  221 

Palmer,  Dr.  Ray,  110,  162 
Pancras,  St.,  election,  183,  197 
Paris,  visit  to,  100,  209,  217 
Parker,  Dr.,  59 
Parliament,  206  f. 
Parliament  Bill,  216 
Parmoor,  Lord,  244 
Parsons,  Rev.  James,  152 
Passing  of  the  Third  Floor  Back, 

The,  272 

Passive  resistance,  131 
Penry,  79,  153 
Peploe,  Rev.  Webb,  130 
Percival,  Bishop,  203 
Philpotts,  Mr.  Eden,  101 
Picton,  Mr.  A.,  219 
Pierce,  Rev.  W.,  78,  103,  124,  153 
Pilkington,  Mr.  W.  W.,  188 
Plunket,  Lord,  229 
Pope,  visit  to  the,  125,  169 
Preaching  method  in,  261 
Predestination,  283 
Primitive  Methodists,  193 
Protestant  succession,  224 
Protestantism,  241  f. 


Public  speaking,  87 
Pulpit,     Platform,     and     Parlia- 
ment, 175,  217 
Pusey,  Dr.,  229 
Pye-Smith,  Mr.  Arnold,  147 

Queen    Street,     Wolverhampton, 

107,  166 
Queen  Victoria,  102 

Raleigh,  Mrs.  A.,  140 

Raleigh,  Sir  T.,  140 

Ranjitsinji,   109 

Reading,  Lord,  245 

Referendum,  296 

Religious  teaching,  226 

Religious  Tract  Society,  97 

Reunion,  125 

Revelation,  Doctrine  of,  147 

Reynolds,  Dr.,  55 

Rhodes,  Cecil,  105,  114,  161 

Richard,  Mr.  H.,  219 

Rickett,  Sir  J.  Compton-,  127  f., 

199 

Riley,  Mr.  Athelstan,  87,  125,  153 
Roberts,  Lord,  115 
Roman  Catholics,  223 
Romance  of  Preaching,  The,  262, 

300 

Rome,  visit  to,  169  f. 
Rosebery,  Lord,  95,  127  f. 
Rouen,  visit  to,  209 
Rowland,  Rev.  A.,  146 
Runciman,  Mr.  W.,  199 
Ruskin,  letter  to,  28 
Russell,  Sir  Charles,  52 
Rylands  Library,  111,  279 
Rylands,  Mrs.,  91,  99,   111,   141, 

154,  177 

Salford  Mission,  190 
Salter,  Mr.  Gurney,  99 
Sanday,  Rev.  Dr.,  41 
Sargeant,  Mr.  A.,  249  f. 
School  Board  Election,  87 
Scotland,  visit  to,  188 
Secretaryship  of  C.U.,  132 
Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  226 
Shakespeare,    Dr.    J.    H.,    128f., 

199 

Shaw,  Mr.  Bernard,  192 
Sheringham,  94,  163,  176,  252 
Sherman,  Rev.  J.,  148 
Shropshire  tour,  246 
Silvester,  Chas.,  5,  6 
Simpson,  Mr.,   157 


INDEX 


811 


Sistine  Chapel,  Rome,  170 
Smith,  Mr.  W.  H.,  226 
South  African  Committee,  105 
Spicer,  Mr.  E.,  65,  114 
Spicer,  Sir  Evan,  147 
Spring  Hill  College,  30 
Spurgeon,  Mr.,  145 
Stanley,  Dean,  152 
Stanley,  Monsignor,  169 
Stepney  Meeting  House,  57 
Stony  Stratford,  195 
Stoughton,  Dr.,  69,  151 
Stretton  Church,  186,  266,  293 
Stuart,   Professor,   62 
Sub  Rosa,  148 
Sussex,  tour  in,  258 
Suttle,  Rev.  G.,  133  f. 
Switzerland,  99 
Byrnes,  Rev.  Colmer,  43 
Sydney  Morning  Herald,  139 

Taylor  Smith,  Bishop,  203 
Temple,  Archbishop,  124 
Tennyson,  death  of,  150 
Thompson,  Rev.  Wardlaw,  63 
Toms,  Mr.  C.  W.,  256 
Toplady  Hall,  179 
Toronto,  301 

Tottenham  Court  Road,  179  f. 
Tracts  for  the  Times,  97 
Tribe,  Mr.  F.,  249  f. 
Turquand,  Rev.  P.,  124 
Twentieth  Century  Fund,  108 

Union  Church,  Brighton,  156 
Union,  Glasgow,  20,  26 
Union,  Oxford,  35 


Ulster  Protestantism,  238  f. 

Vandyke  Exhibition,  113 
Vatican  and  Ireland,  240 
Venice,  269 

Victoria,  Queen,  102,  122 
Vital  Virtues,  The,  86 

Wales,  South,  visit  to,  188 
Walker,  Thos.,  43,  72,  105,  163 
Wallace,  Sir  R.,  176,  261 
Walsh,  Archbishop,  243 
Ward,  Mrs.  Humphrey,  264 
Washington,  visit  to,  285 
Watson,  Wm.,  150 
Welldon,  Bishop,  203 
Welsh  Disestablishment,  227  f. 
Westminster  Chapel,  151 
Wharton,  Lord,  113 
White,  Rev.  E.,  47,  55 
White,  Sir  George,  199 
Whitefields  Chapel,  133  f. 
Whitefields,  work  at,  174  f. 
Will,  Freedom  of  the,  283 
Willans,  Mr.  G.,  67 
Willis,  Judge,  252 
Windle,  President,  203 
Winona  Conference,  291 
Winterbotham,  Mr.  W.,  47,  169 
Wiveliscombe,  254 
Wolfendale,  Rev.  T.  A.,  33,  38,  51 
Wolverton,  195 
Woodhead,  Sir  G.,  120 
Woodstock,  visit  to,  39 

Yale  Lectures,  262,  300 
Young  men,  letter  to,  80 


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A    000056255    3 


